by Gus Russo
The Capone-Patton-O’Hare triumvirate chose Capone’s town, Cicero, as the site for their first dog track, the Laramie Kennel Club, later renamed the Hawthorne Kennel Club. (In a few years, the track would be switched over to harness horse racing, once Capone’s councilman, “Mr. Malaprop” Libonati, introduced legislation authorizing the change. In this incarnation, the track would be called Sportsman’s Park.)
The Syndicate’s racing gig was so successful that it began expanding across the country. From Florida to California, Patton-O’Hare-Capone opened new tracks. The expansion also helped reinforce bonds with other crime cartels. In Coral Gables, Florida, for instance, the Syndicate partnered with its slot-machine colleague New York boss Meyer Lansky in running the Tropical Park track. With regional gangs working in concert, racing seasons were scheduled so as not to conflict. In Florida, Johnny Patton, already skilled at the art of the fix, greased the palms of the local pols, assuring that the mob tracks in Coral Gables, Miami, and Tampa were given wide berth. Patton eventually contributed $100,000 to the successful 1948 gubernatorial campaign of Warren Fuller.
With the gangs now running both legal and underground tracks, abuses quickly appeared. Horse-doping with drugs such as cocaine, bribed jockeys, and the use of ringers occurred regularly. After Volstead was repealed, it was wrongly believed that legalizing the tracks would drive the gangs out. Thus, after prohibition ended, the horse-racing ban was also lifted. But the gangs remained in control. In fact, descendants of the Capone family continue to run Sportsman’s Park to this day.
Vegas
When the Chicago underworld expanded its gambling empire into Nevada, it chose a locale uniquely positioned to accept legalized gambling.
At about the same time that Thomas Jefferson was putting the finishing touches on the Declaration of Independence, a band of Spanish conquistadores led by Padre Escalante ventured northward from Mexico into a territory later annexed by Jefferson’s new world and subsequently named Nevada. When the explorers discovered an artesian spring in the southern part of the region, they christened the area Las Vegas, or the Meadows. After the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848, the Spaniards ceded the harsh terrain to the new nation, and the settlement became little more than a comfort station between major cities. In 1855, Mormon leader Brigham Young dispatched missionaries to Las Vegas from Utah in a vain attempt to convert the Paiute Indians. After three years, the mission foundered, but the Mormons retained a strong presence in northern Nevada, especially in the area that would become Reno and the state capital, Carson City. The Mormons became the dominating force in the Nevada state legislature, where they inserted their belief system into the state’s legal code and licensing procedures. One of the religion’s core tenets is the superiority of fair-skinned people, with the Mormons holding that they are descended from a sixth-century explorer to the New World named Nephi, who was “white and delight some,” as opposed to his brother, the evil Laman, who was “dark and loathsome.” The Mormons’ dogmatic resentment of darker-skinned peoples would become important a century later when olive-skinned Sicilians appeared before them requesting gambling licenses. And although the Mormons were strictly forbidden to gamble, their leadership encouraged them to provide not only the workforce but the financing for the profitable casino industry. A century after the failed missionary settlement, the Mormon-owned Bank of Las Vegas would provide critical capitalization for some of the city’s most lucrative casinos.
Around the turn of the century, southern Nevada experienced a temporary gold and silver rush in the arid Eldorado and McCullough mountain ranges that encircle Las Vegas. With grizzled prospectors in need of R&R, Vegas became a low-class vice district that featured gambling, which was sporadically legal throughout this period. After the mines had been stripped bare in a mere ten years, many southern Nevada towns, including Las Vegas, began the slide toward their previous status as ghost towns. It now appears that when state officials considered ways to rejuvenate the state’s stalled economy, they were aided in their discussion by Curly Humphreys and the Outfit, who were conveniently expanding their dog-racing ventures in the state. The relaxing of Nevada’s gambling laws, which proved beneficial to both the Outfit and the Mormon gentry, was likely the result of graft dispensed by Johnny Rosselli and Curly Humphreys in 1931. And although the Outfit appears to have played a critical role in “opening up” Nevada in 1931, they became distracted from its potential for over two decades. Meanwhile, hordes of less organized hoods from all over the country flocked to Nevada, where they believed they could seize their last chance at the American Dream.
The remarkable history of this desert city is rich with irony. One would have been hard-pressed to find a Spanish explorer who would have believed that this parcel of uncultivatable desert would become the fastest-growing city in the world by the end of the twentieth century. Early Mormon missionaries would be appalled to know that their descendants would one day provide the indispensable workforce for America’s paean to hedonism and divorce, aka Sin City. Gold prospectors would likely have laughed off the suggestion that in time gullible tourists might journey here from points remote to voluntarily part annually with $20 billion of their hard-earned wages. As with the other Outfit rackets, the Las Vegas one would be superficially sanitized in advance of its complete takeover by the upperworld.
1. After World War II, Chicago renamed its airport after Eddie’s son, Butch, who died a war hero.
Sources
1. Interviews
Howard Abadinsky, Allan Ackerman, Steve Allen, Vincent “Jimmy Blue Eyes” Alo, Jack Anderson, Senator Frank Annunzio, Senator Howard Baker, Ed Becker, August Bequai, Sam Betar, John Binder, Charles Bluth, William Brashler, Ernest (Humphreys) Brendle, David Bushong, Michael Cain, Anna Chennault, Jim Ciatloa, Jack Clarke, Miles Cooperman, James Deakin, John DeCarlo, Cartha DeLoach, C. Douglas Dillon, James Dowd, Morton Downey, Jr., Julius Lucius Echeles, Lou Farina, Clark Fettridge, Brenda Gage, Antoinette Giancana, Jerry Gladden, Joey Glimco, Jr., Andrew Good-pasture, Harry Hall, Betsy Duncan Hammes, Senator Gary Hart, Clara Grace Harvey, David Helfrey, Maury Hughes, Jr., Robert Hughes, Jeanne Humphreys, William Hundley, Wayne Johnson, “Ruth Jones,” Constantine “Gus” Kangles, Tom King, Irwin Klass, Herb Klein, Boris Kostelanetz, Ed Kovacic, Joe Langford, Teddy (Mrs. Meyer) Lansky, Michael Lavelle, Jack Lavin, Honorable George N. Leighton, Howard Liebengood, Richard Lindberg, Joe Longmeyer, Mike Madigan, Sherman Magidson, Robert Maheu, Richard Mahoney, Honorable Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, Jake McCarthy, Robert McDonnell, Walter Metzer, Dan Moldea, Roger Morris, George Murray II, Bernard Neistein, Dave Nissen, Ben Novak, John O’Brien, Madeline Foy O’Donnell, Wayne Ogle, Patrick O’Malley, Jimmy O’Neill, Bill Ouseley, Irwin Owens, Sharon Patrick, Art Petaque, Marty Philpott, Nick Pileggi, Andy Postal, Frank Ragano, Oliver “Buck” Revell, William Roemer, Douglas Roller, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, Joseph P. Santoiana, David Schippers, Joe Shimon, Toni Shimon, Sandy Smith, Thomas Sobek, Brownie (Mrs. Billy Wilkerson) Stewart, Governor William Stratton, Jim Strong, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Jay Tischendorf, John W. Touhy, Red Tracton, Walter Trohan, Bethel Van Tassel, Santo Volpe, Carl Walsh, Royston Webb, Vern E. Whaley, Will Wilson.
My sincere thanks to all the above, as well as to those who preferred to remain on background or go unnamed - and profound apologies to anyone I’ve overlooked.
2. FBI Files
A number of FBI files were obtained, some by new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, others from the FBI reading room in Washington, the FBI Electronic Reading Room on the Web, and the National Archives II in College Park, Maryland. Those file subjects include Anthony Accardo, Al Capone, Moe Dalitz, Paul De Lucia, Sam Giancana, the Bobby Greenlease kidnapping, Murray Humphreys, Estes Kefauver, John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sidney Korshak, the assassination attempt on Franklin Roosevelt, Johnny Rosselli, Benjamin Siegel, and Frank Sinatra. In addition, the FBI’s report on the parole scandal was located by the Department of Justice and made available.
3. Government Reports
Federal Communications Commission Report on the Telegraph Industry; December 1939.
Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments (House); 80th Congress, 2nd session; 1948; report and hearings (”Parole Investigation”).
Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Senate); 81st Congress, 2nd session; May 1950; “Transmission of Gambling Information” (race wire) (”McFarland”).
Hearings Before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce (House), regarding proposed legislation to prohibit interstate sale of gambling machines (slots, etc.); 81st Congress, 2nd Session; June 1950.
Special Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce (Senate); 81st and 82nd Congress; 1951; reports, hearings, and working papers (”Kefauver”).
The Report and Hearings of the Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor and Management Field (Senate); 86th Congress, 2nd Session; June 1960; reports, hearings, and working papers (”McClellan”).
Report of the Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency; May 23, 1967; “The Plots to Assassinate Fidel Castro.”
Interim Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Agencies (Senate); 94th Congress, 1st Session; November 20, 1975; reports, hearings, and working papers (”Church”).
Report of the Select Committee on Assassinations (House); 1979; also twelve volumes of hearings, and working papers.
The President’s Commission on Organized Crime; June 24-26, 1985; “Organized Crime and Gambling.”
Parole Board and Bureau of Prisons records at the National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
The Papers of Representative Fred E. Busbey in the Special Collections holdings of the Robert Manning Strozier Library at Florida State University at Tallahassee.
4. Court Filings and Transcripts
U.S. v. Schenck & Moscowitz (Federal Court, Southern District, New York).
U.S. v. Campagna et al. (Federal Court, Southern District, New York). - Both supplied by Boris Kostelanetz.
Hoffman v. United States (4/25/51) (U.S. Supreme Court).
U.S. v. Aiuppa (217152) (Northern District Court).
Aiuppa v. United States (12/11/52) (Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals).
Papers of the Brooklyn, New York, District Attorney’s Office, especially the “Murder, Inc.” files stored at the New York Archives.
State of Illinois v. Sam Jantelezio, Michael Campobasso, and Michael Gibellina (March 1962); re voting fraud in the 1960 election.
U.S. v. William A. Hanhardt et al. (October 2000) (Northern District of Illinois); re jewelry theft ring.
5. Books
Abadinsky, Howard. Organized Crime. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1981.
Albanese, Jay. Organizational Offenders: Understanding Corporate Crime. 2nd ed. Niagara Falls: Apocalypse Publishing Co., 1988.
——— Organized Crime in America. 2nd ed. Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing Co., 1989.
Albini, Joseph L. The American Mafia: Genesis of a Legend. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts Educational Division, Meredith Corporation, 1971.
Allen, Steve. Hi-Ho, Steverino! My Adventures in the Wonderful Wacky World of TV. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 1992.
———. Mark It and Strike It. New York: Bartholomew House, 1960.
———. Ripoff: The Corruption That Plagues America. Secaucus: Lyle Stuart, 1979.
Anderson, Jack, and Fred Blumenthal. The Kefauver Story. New York: Dial Press, 1956.
Andrews, Robert Hardy. A Corner of Chicago. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1963.
Arnaz, Desi. A Book. New York: Buccaneer Books, 1976.
Asbury, Herbert. Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underground. New York and London: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940.
Bahrenburg, Bruce. The Creation of Dino De Laurentiis’ King Kong. New York: Pocket Books, 1976.
Baker, Bobby. Wheeling and Dealing. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1978.
Balboni, Alan. Beyond the Mafia: Italian Americans and the Development of Las Vegas. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1996.
Balsamo, William, and George Carpozi, Jr. Crime Incorporated: The Inside Story of the Mafia’s First 100 Years. Far Hills: New Horizon Press, 1991.
Barkley, Alben. That Reminds Me. Garden City: Doubleday, 1954.
Barth, Alan. Government by Investigation. New York: Viking Press, 1955.
Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1996.
Bequai, August. Organized Crime: The Fifth Estate. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1979.
Bergreen, Laurence. Capone: The Man and the Era. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994.
Berman, Susan. Easy Street. New York: Dial Press, 1981.
Blakey, G. Robert, and Richard N. Billings. The Plot to Kill the President: Organized Crime Assassinated J.F.K.: The Definite Story. New York: Times Books, 1981.
Bonanno, Bill. Bound by Honor: A Mafioso’s Story. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
Bonanno, Joseph, with Sergio Lalli. A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1983.
Bonanno, Rosalie, with Beverly Donofrio. Mafia Marriage: My Story. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1990.
Brandeis, Louis. Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use It. Fairfield, N.J.: A. M. Kelley, 1986.
Brashler, William. The Don: The Life and Death of Sam Giancana. New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.
Brill, Steven. The Teamsters. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.
Brownstein, Ronald. The Power and the Glitter: The Hollywood-Washington Connection. New York: Pantheon Books, 1990.
Bunch, William. Jukebox America: Down Back Streets and Blue Highways in Search of the Country’s Greatest Jukebox. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.
Campbell, Rodney. The Luciano Project: The Secret Wartime Collaboration of the Mafia and the U.S. Navy. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1977.
Caro, Robert A. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Knopf, 1974.
Carse, Robert. Rum Row. New York and Toronto: Rhinehart and Co., 1959.
Chambliss, William, J. On the Take: From Petty Crooks to Presidents. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1978.
Ciccone, F. Richard. Daley: Power and Presidential Politics. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1996.
Clarke, Thurston, and John J. Tigue, Jr. Dirty Money: Swiss Banks, the Mafia, Money Laundering and White Collar Crime. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975.
Clifford, Clark, with Richard Holbrooke. Counsel to the President. New York: Random House, 1991.
Cohen, Adam, and Elizabeth Taylor. American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley: His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.
Cohen, Rich. Tough Jews. New York: Vintage Books, 1999.
Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz. The Kennedys: An American Drama. New York: Warner Books, 1984.
Collins, Gail. Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity, and American Politics. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1998.
Conklin, John E., ed. The Crime Establishment: Organized Crime and American Society. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1973.
Conrad, Harold. Dear Muffo: 35 Years in the Fast Lane. New York: Stein and Day Publishing, 1982.
Cowan, Geoffrey. The People Versus Clarence Darrow: The Bribery Trial of America’s Greatest Lawyer. New York: Times Books, 1993.
Davis, John H. The Kennedys. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984.
———. Mafia Kingfish Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. New York: Signet, 1989.
Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The New Deal Years, 1933-1937: A History. New York: Random House, 1986.
Deakin, James. A Grave for Bobby: The Greenlease Slaying. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1990.
———. Straight Stuff: The Reporters, the White House, and the Truth. New York: William Morrow an
d Company, 1984.
Demaris, Ovid. The Boardwalk Jungle. New York: Bantam Books, 1986.
———. Captive City: Chicago in Chains. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1969.
———. Judith Exner: My Story. New York: Grove Press, 1977.
———. The Last Mafioso: “Jimmy the Weasel” Fratianno. New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Denton, Sally, and Roger Morris. The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America, 1947-2000. New York: Knopf, 2001.
Doleschal, Eugene, Anne Newton, and William Hickey. A Guide to the Literature on Organized Crime: An Annotated Bibliography Covering the Years 1967-81. Hackensack: National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1981.
