Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas

Family Secrets | S1E10

“He always said if you pull a gun on somebody, you finish it.” 

Tony Spilotro goes missing in June of 1986, last seen driving away from his brother's home in suburban Illinois. Over two decades later, a racketeering trial in Chicago reveals what happened after that. 

For more on this episode, visit www.reviewjournal.com/mobbedup. To learn about The Mob Museum, visit www.themobmuseum.org.

BONUS: Stories from the Steer

"They didn't care if you were a mobster or a corporate executive or a politician or a federal agent." 

When Frank Cullotta arrived in Las Vegas in 1978, one of his first stops was The Golden Steer Steakhouse, where he and Tony Spilotro sat down to discuss their plans for the future over dinner. The restaurant's current owner, Dr. Michael J. Signorelli, shares a few tales from the Steer's storied past.

To learn more about The Golden Steer, or to order online, visit www.goldensteerlasvegas.com.

Implosion | S1E11

"I'm probably the only guy standing right now." 

Decades after it was at the center of a federal racketeering case, the aging Stardust hotel-casino is imploded to make way for a new resort project. Meanwhile, Frank Cullotta has returned to living under his own name in Las Vegas. 

 

Join us for Mobbed Up LIVE on Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. Pacific on the Las Vegas Review-Journal Facebook page. Send your questions in advance to rredmond@reviewjournal.com. 

 

For more on this episode, visit www.reviewjournal.com/mobbedup. For more on the Mob Museum, visit www.themobmuseum.org. 

BONUS: Mobbed Up (Almost) Live

This week, Mobbed Up host Reed Redmond and Mob Museum VP of Exhibits of Programs Geoff Schumacher hosted 'Mobbed Up Live,' which aired on the Las Vegas Review-Journal website and Facebook page. The livestream included panel discussions with voices from the podcast, as well as a follow-up interview with Sen. Harry Reid about his time on the Nevada Gaming Commission. 

Full video of 'Mobbed Up Live' is available at www.reviewjournal.com or on the Las Vegas Review-Journal Facebook page.

Introducing Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas. Season 2

Season 2 of “Mobbed Up: The Fight for Las Vegas,” an eight-part, true-crime series, takes you to the late 1970s and early 1980s, an unforgettable era in the battle against organized crime in Las Vegas. Mafia families wielded hidden control over more than a third of the Strip's casinos, and federal and state agents were waking up to the enormous task of pushing them out. This series is produced by the Las Vegas Review-Journal in partnership with The Mob Museum. For more information visit, www.reviewjournal.com/mobbedup.

The Genie in the Lamp | S2E1

 

It’s July 2, 1976. Music legend Neil Diamond is opening the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, one of the finest stages ever constructed in Las Vegas. The theater is $10 million worth of class. It was designed to be part of the city’s future, but it was built on the city’s past - part of a $50 million hotel expansion financed by the Teamsters Central States Pension fund, a mob-controlled financial institution that had loaned millions of dollars to casinos. The Aladdin loan helped the Detroit Mafia get a big piece of the resort. The fight for Las Vegas was on.

Hoffa: The Strip’s Kingmaker | S2E2

Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance led to a big push against organized crime across the country, including Las Vegas, where Hoffa, the mob’s banker, had breathed life into the casino industry. And today, 46 years later, just what happened to the charismatic labor boss who helped shape the Strip skyline remains one of this country’s biggest mysteries.

‘Close the Place Down‘ | S2E3

The Nevada Gaming Commission voted unanimously to close the Aladdin’s mob-controlled gaming floor in August 1979, but colorful federal judge Harry Claiborne ordered it reopened. It was a big blow to both state regulators and federal mob-fighting prosecutors. Everyone was mad. The state had taken away the gaming licenses of the Aladdin’s top executives following their federal convictions in Detroit and fought Claiborne to regain control over the casino. Eventually, an unprecedented feud erupted between federal organized crime prosecutors and Nevada’s two federal judges.

BONUS: Introducing Mafia

Mafia is an Audioboom Original that delves into the criminal underworld, exploring the lives and careers of America’s most infamous gangsters. This season will cover mafiosos from around the US; including LA’s Aladena ‘Jimmy the Weasel’ Fratianno (an acting mob boss turned informant), ‘Silver Dollar’ Sam Carollo (a Sicilian immigrant who established Cosa Nostra in New Orleans), and the leader of the New England Syndicate, Raymond Patriarca, whose reign lasted over three decades. Do you know who was ‘The Queen of Policy Racket’? Do you know what James ‘Whitey’ Bulger was up to while in hiding from the local Massachusetts police, FBI, and US Marshalls? You’ll find out all that and more on this season of Mafia. Catch new episodes of Mafia every Wednesday wherever you listen to podcasts. You’re about to hear a preview of Mafia. While you’re listening, be sure to subscribe to Mafia on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows!

Wayne Newton vs. Johnny Carson | S2E4

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. Newton, the “Midnight Idol,” was the number one headliner at several hotels. Carson co-owned a Las Vegas television station and performed stand-up comedy on weekends on the Strip. Once friendly, their feud started after Newton got the upper hand in buying the resort. Carson started skewering Newton in monologues, ending with a sudden confrontation in Carson’s office in Burbank. But untangling the Aladdin from mob allegations wasn’t easy.