Oscar Goodman regaled the Mob Museum crowd Wednesday night with stories from his defense of Jimmy Chagra as well as other asides about his time as a criminal defense attorney.
lasvegasmob
Some artifacts for sale were exhibited at the Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana.
Two experts at Las Vegas’ Mob Museum hypothesize that the ruthless enforcer killed one of three men with mob ties who disappeared decades ago without a trace.
To many, the grim discovery of the body of a shooting victim in Lake Mead inspired a callback to a darker Las Vegas past, but the the reality could be as murky as the waters where the body was found.
Like many mafia stories, the history of the Mob Museum, now in its 10th year in downtown Las Vegas, has had its fair share of fans and detractors.
It was the final chapter of the troubled Las Vegas Strip resort controlled by the mob two decades earlier, then rescued by a big-name entertainer only to fall into ruin.
Harry Claiborne — the Nevada judge who stood up to prosecutors fighting the mob — was charged with bribery and filing false tax returns, and was the first federal judge to be impeached by the House.
Newton wound up suing NBC for libel, and even tied his nemesis, Johnny Carson, into what became a decade-long litigation after a news report by Brian Ross.
Nevada Governor Robert List was embarking on one of the most critical tasks in the history of the state — breaking the mob’s grip on the world-famous Las Vegas Strip.
Wayne Newton and Johnny Carson, two of the biggest stars in the entertainment world, both set their sights on buying the Aladdin after regulators stripped the resort’s owners of their gaming licenses.
State gaming control agents were on the Las Vegas Strip preparing to take unprecedented enforcement action to shut down the casino of the mob-ridden Aladdin Hotel.
Jimmy Hoffa and his friends in the mob played a big role in developing Las Vegas through their control over the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund, and the millions of dollars in loans it extended to casinos.
The Detroit mob’s hold on the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas
The Aladdin hotel and its ties to the Detroit mob in the late 1970s are explored in new episodes of the podcast. Also featured: Wayne Newton and Johnny Carson’s feud.
Far from being secretive about his past, the late gangster Frank Cullotta reveled in it.




