Chicago's Man in Vegas

Anthony Spilotro (1938-1986)

Haunted by his past

Anthony Spilotro was assigned to oversee the Outfit's Vegas interests about 1971. He moved into the community, bringing with him a number of underworld associates and a well-deserved reputation for violence.

DeStefano

But old Chicago crimes haunted Spilotro. In 1972, he was indicted for murder along with his old shylock employer Sam DeStefano and DeStefano's brother Mario. Sam DeStefano, known by that time as "Mad Sam," had a disturbing tendency of making a scene of himself while in courtrooms. He was known to appear in court in pajamas. Once he rolled in in a wheelchair, claiming poor health. He reportedly addressed one presiding judge through a bullhorn.

(While serving a perjury sentence at Stateville Penitentiary in 1968, Sam DeStefano was able to have himself transferred to Augustana Hospital, supposedly for urgent surgery. No surgery was performed, but DeStefano had a number of parties in his hospital room and conducted his shylocking business through a hospital telephone.)

Even if Sam DeStefano actually wasn'tmentally unbalanced, he certainly wasn't the sort of man one would wish to have as a codefendant.

Spilotro and Mario DeStefano succeeded in separating their trial from "Mad Sam's." But there was still concern throughout the Chicago underworld about what Sam might do and say when he was brought to trial. Early in April 1973, Sam DeStefano received a warning. While he and his wife were out, someone entered his Galewood home (1656 N. Sayre Street), apparently using some sort of pass key at the kitchen door. The intruder disabled a security system and robbed the home of a mink coat, a mink stole and a .30-caliber revolver. The minks were each valued at over $800. Police were called to investigate but could find no clue as to the thief's identity.

DeStefano's death

"Mad Sam" did not take the opportunity to change his address. On the morning of April 14, 1973, his remains were found in the garage of his home. DeStefano, dressed in work clothes, had been hit by two blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun. One destroyed his left arm. The other ripped through his upper body. Neighbors told police they had seen nothing. The authorities speculated that the murder had been planned for months.

Despite the testimony of an underworld informant, Spilotro managed to be acquitted of murder charges. Mario DeStefano, however, was convicted.

Spilotro was not yet in the clear. He subsequently faced murder charges in connection with the 1963 icepick murder of a Chicago loanshark. Some violence against state witnesses was sufficient to resolve that matter. Then, early in 1974, he and five other men were charged with misusing money from the Central States Teamsters Union pension fund. That case went to trial in March of 1975. By April, a federal judge ordered the acquittal of Spilotro and two other defendants.

A top man

Giancana

Back in Vegas, things were going well. Federal agents estimated that, through the 1970s, Spilotro's organization was able to skim hundreds of thousands of dollars each month from casino earnings. By putting a Mafia representative in a casino counting room, money could be withdrawn before totals were generated for tax records.

Through his ability to escape prosecution and his tremendous success managing Outfit interests in Las Vegas, little "Tony the Ant" Spilotro had quickly become a giant in the underworld. When Chicago's Sam Giancana was assassinated at his Oak Park home on June 19, 1975, the press circulated Spilotro's name as a possible successor. (The press was not aware that Giancana had been discredited in the underworld and replaced in Chicago due to unsuccessful involvement with U.S. intelligence agencies in the 1960s and due to his support of Kennedy's Presidential campaign.)

The press clippings probably went to the Ant's head because he shortly expanded his personal crime territory into Arizona. And, in addition to his assigned gambling interests, he started to run gangs involved in burglary, fencing of stolen goods, and drug trafficking.

Authorities told the press in spring 1977 that Spilotro had partnered with Paul Schiro in the Phoenix, Arizona, region and was competing there with the underworld interests of New York's Bonanno clan. Spilotro, it was claimed, was funneling drugs from Mexico into the Chicago area through his Arizona territory. Federal agents valued the drug traffic at $8 million per year.

Spilotro was reaching out for more and more. At the same time, he was offending a number of his old friends. He terrorized his underlings. Rather than ensuring their loyalty, the tactic prompted several of them to seek the protection of federal agents. Spilotro also tended to bad mouth higher-ups back in Chicago. He probably resented sending so much of his own hard-earned money to Outfit administrators who had done little if anything to earn it.

One of Spilotro's underworld partners, Aladena "Jimmy the Weasel" Fratianno, was arrested late in 1977. That set events in motion that would lead to Spilotro's downfall.