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.
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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 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.
It’s now regarded as a modern classic, but “Casino” got off to a rocky start upon its release on Nov. 22, 1995.
Las Vegas’ housing market is heating up despite the pandemic and among the many houses now changing hands: the late mafia figure Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal’s former home.
Frank Cullotta, the former Chicago mobster who was a consultant on the movie “Casino,” has died. He was 81.
A live virtual event co-sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal evoked the dramatic history of organized crime in the valley.