All Blog Posts Tagged 'Casino' (60)

By Gary Jenkins

“I’ve known Tony since I was about 12 years old, we grew up together. At the end of 78, he called and asked me to come out to Vegas and, you know, watch his back, be his underboss, more or less, that’s the term they use. So that’s what I was noted for, the Underboss and the leader of the Hole in the Wall…

By David Amoruso

Chicago Outfit mobster Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro continues to fascinate the public. Thanks in large part to Martin Scorsese’s epic movie Casino and Joe Pesci’s portrayal of him, but also due to the gangster’s violent way of doing business. For those interested, you can now live in his former home or…

By David Amoruso

As a vor v zakone, mob boss Razhden Shulaya (above) was an official member of a century-old criminal tradition. As such, he was treated as Russian Mafia royalty. He used that position to run a sprawling organization involved in kidnapping, assault, fraud, extortion, and money laundering throughout the…

By David Amoruso

They were rounded up in a bust said to be “a major disruption of La Costra Nostra’s activities on Long Island”. Now, mobsters John “Johnny Boy” Ambrosio, an acting captain in the Gambino family; Frank “Frankie Boy” Salerno, a soldier in the Bonanno family; and Anthony Saladino, an associate of the Gambinos…

By David Amoruso

Hollywood loves gangsters. Not because film makers condone their crimes, but because their stories make them lots of money. It’s difficult to name any other genre that has so many titles based on a true story. Yet, despite this label, the true story often gets twisted to fit the…

Estimate members: Between 50 and 90 made members

First Boss: James "Big Jim" Colosimo

Primary…

By David Amoruso

It helps to have friends in high places. It enables one to have more opportunities, but also to get away with mistakes or grave crimes even. If one’s friend is powerful enough, one could get away with anything. Until that friend is gone, of course. Like in the case of…

By Robert Sberna

By the 1970s, Cleveland’s once-powerful underworld was merely a shadow of itself. Just 20 years earlier, the city’s Mafia was a thriving enterprise, with up to 60 made (formally inducted) men involved in loansharking, gambling and union rackets.

The dwindling of the…

By Gary Jenkins

Most law enforcement entities that had an interest in the Midwest Sicilian La Cosa Nostra crime families suspected those criminal organizations exerted influence over Las Vegas casinos, had corrupted Nevada politicians and claimed their territory in Las Vegas.

Mob experts believe that at a meeting of…

By David Amoruso

At 6’4” Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran literally was a towering figure. But to those who knew him in the American underworld, he was even taller. A fearsome force who had honed his deadly skills as a combat-hardened rifleman during the Second World War fighting the Nazis. Back home, he became a Mafia hitman,…

By David Amoruso

“It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.” – Anthony Soprano, HBO’s The Sopranos

Mob boss James “Little Jimmy” Marcello must know the feeling. Born on December…

By David Amoruso

You can call Charles Russell an old-time hood that just doesn’t know when to quit. As a member of the Chicago mob’s Grand Avenue Crew, which was once headed by infamous boss…

By Gary Jenkins

“I remember one night in Circus Circus, we had an obligation to meet, course I was young and had some balls, I guess,” Carl Thomas says. “There was two guys from the state outside, Bybee was one of them, and I was in there on my fuckin' back, snatching that money, and they weren't as far from me as that…

By David Amoruso

Seven New York mobsters were charged yesterday with racketeering conspiracy, including loan sharking, illegal gambling, drug trafficking and obstruction of justice conspiracy. The bust represents “a major disruption of La Costra Nostra’s activities on Long Island,” stated Acting United States Attorney for…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

Former Mafia hitman Frank Cullotta has written a new book and will be out and about doing some heavy promoting. Known as a member of infamous Chicago mobster Anthony Spilotro’s …

By David Amoruso

Actor Frank Vincent, best known for his roles in Goodfellas and The Sopranos, passed away of…

By Gangsters Inc. Editors

It’s been a while, but Bernie Sindler vividly remembers the day he met infamous mob boss Meyer Lansky. It was a chance encounter that changed his life. Though never a member…

By David Amoruso

Razhden Shulaya’s influence reached far. As a bona fide “Vor” – the Russian Mafia’s equivalent of a made guy – he was feared and revered by his underlings and had powerful connections in the Eastern European underworld. But…

Organized crime is big business. And not just of the illegal kind. Each year, millions are made by film studios, writers, and media giants by turning stories about stone cold gangsters and Mafiosi in cold hard dollars.

We at Gangsters Inc. thoroughly enjoy these products and decided to shine some light on them in this section. This is where we discuss the true story behind some…

Filmmaker Joseph Alexandre’s fascination with the true story behind Martin Scorsese’s mob epic Casino started long before the movie’s release. It all began in the 1980s, while he was working at a Chicago style pizzeria and heard about “the guy,” a man who came around with his College Bowl picks. That “guy” was Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the…