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Sunday, January 30, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Former special agent says the record is clear
By Joseph Yablonsky
Special to the Review-Journal
Stylistically, Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith is generally a fine writer of human interest columns. However, when he delves into meaningful historical Las Vegas law enforcement issues, he falters in logic, substance and interpretation.
In a recent column, Mr. Smith attempts to compare recently arrived Las Vegas FBI Chief Grant Ashley and me in terms of our styles -- ignoring the obvious fact that Las Vegas was a far different place when I arrived 20 years ago than it is today.
Mr. Smith likens me to Tony Galento and Mr. Ashley to Sugar Ray Robinson. Galento, a heavyweight known as "Two-Ton Tony," was a rough and tumble heavy hitter who went down any number of times but was never knocked out. Presumably, Sugar Ray was a champ of smoother and more graceful moves.
I believe Mr. Smith's confusion emanates from a combination of naivete and conditioned responses filtered through his Las Vegas cultural nativity. He is acutely sensitive to the politically correct conformity required to get along in Las Vegas. He's not alone in that regard.
When I arrived in Las Vegas in January 1980, organized crime was alive and well. At least five casinos were being skimmed for the New York, Kansas City and Chicago mobs; the "Hole in the Wall Gang" was actively pursuing its expertise in arson for hire, extortion, burglary, etc. under the auspices of Chicago mobster "Tony the Ant" Spilotro. Besides him there were 16 other made members of the mob residing in Las Vegas.
Mr. Smith's factual and interpretive errors:
-- He writes I "stirred up a storm" when I "opened a public corruption hot line after taking over the office."
The hot line was initiated three years and nine months after my arrival, not immediately after I took over the office, as implied. It was done after the first two convictions in "Operation Yobo," the political corruption sting which netted five convictions. Many citizens, including several state politicians, made congratulatory calls to my office. The hot line was instituted to capitalize upon overwhelming public approval of this effort. We did receive some valuable information on the hot line.
-- He writes, "Those with the best political contacts jeered Yablonsky for indicting the whole system and assuming the worst about Las Vegans. The results were mixed. Yablonsky's tenure was easily the most controversial in the history of the FBI in this community. The long-timers got their wish by torturing him in some segments of the press and running him out of town."
I never figuratively indicted the whole community nor assumed the worst about all Las Vegans. However, some of the FBI's finest working under me legally indicted enough miscreants from various segments of the community to show that in spite of Las Vegas' delusional narcissism, a unique brand of organized crime and corruption did exist.
The results were not "mixed," given the efforts to destroy me and some of the cases brought. The highest conviction rate ever in the history of the Las Vegas office was achieved. The Strawman-Trans Sterling skim case -- involving the Stardust, Fremont and Sundance casinos -- may well have finally terminated the Chicago mob's hidden interest in Nevada casinos.
This case, developed by my office, and aided by the existence of an honest governor, Richard Bryan, resulted in the forced sale of those casinos to the Boyd Group, a legitimate operator. This case and others developed by my office and the Kansas City and Chicago offices were important milestones in eliminating organized crime's plunder of Nevada casinos. Over the years, skimmed Nevada casinos provided organized crime in America with more cash dollars than any other source of their ill-gotten gains.
Other successes include:
-- Three pending federal indictments against Spilotro at the time of his beating death in 1986.
-- The "Hole in the Wall Gang," caught in the act by a team of FBI agents and Metro detectives, prosecuted and convicted.
-- "Operation Jewel Pigeon," an undercover operation which resulted in a $6 million recovery of stolen art, drugs, jewelry and other contraband included in scams. Forty-six convictions, mostly by pleas due to compelling evidence.
-- The conviction and impeachment of corrupt federal Judge Harry Claiborne. This was most important to the integrity of the criminal justice system of Nevada and beyond.
Only one segment of the press, the Las Vegas Sun, attacked me with a series of repetitive canards and "red herrings." The Review-Journal chose four FBI cases as part of the top 10 stories of 1983.
Run out of town? That notion, given the overwhelming success in prosecutions and convictions speaks more eloquently about the depraved morality of certain Las Vegas detractors than it does of me. How come no one ever suggested that Tony Spilotro et al. should be run out of town?
If all of the above accomplishments, which ultimately aided the overall image and integrity of Nevada, made me the most controversial FBI chief ever, then I wear it as a badge of honor.
Joseph Yablonsky was the FBI's special agent in charge, Las Vegas, from 1980-84. He writes from Florida.
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