January was "Mob Month" at the Clark County Library. Each Tuesday, they used their big theater to discuss mob related activities. I was lucky enough to attend each meeting. They also had a special Saturday edition that I did not attend where they had people and computers to trace your family tree to see if you had any mob members in your family.

The first event was with Robert Allen who owns the Vegas Mob Tour and Haunted Vegas Tour. He was also an entertainer in Chicago in the mob days and also an entertainer on the strip when the mob ran it. Dennis Arnoldy was also at the first meeting. He was the FBI agent that brought down Tony Spilotro's Hole In The Wall Gang. Dennis Griffin, who wrote many Vegas and crime books and was a NY policeman attended all of these Tuesday events. Finally, on the first week, was Andrew DiDonato. Andrew is a very interesting character. He was in the Gambino crime family and was a very loyal soldier. He had some great stories to tell about the crimes he committed and the structure of power within the mob. His main point (as a government witness) is to stay out of gangs. He has a book and DVD out too. I got the DVD and it is pretty interesting. It's not much to watch as more than 99% of the time, it's just him sitting on a couch telling his story. It would make a better audio CD than a DVD.

The second week was Warren Hull and Jonathon Humbert, who worked hard to prove who killed Bugsy Siegel. They have spent years and years investigating, and I think that they have a pretty good case. They are working with the police to solve this crime and there very well could be an official closure to the case soon. It is a fascinating story with connections to a WWII hero, a murder suicide, a mob debt to be paid, Hollywood socialite, and even Howard Hughes. It was pretty long a drawn out, but that's what's needed to tie everything together. The book should be out soon. The second week also had the main historian for the Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana.

The third week had Kathy Barrie of the Vegas Mob Museum, downtown. It should be open late this year. They have a nice new promo add that includes modern day Vegas hotels with wraps of old gangsters. It also had Craig Vincent, who played in the movie Casino. He was the big cowboy guy that worked for the mob and put his feet on the table and got smacked with a telephone by Joe Pesci. He said that they had to do 13 takes of the scene where he gets hit with the phone. It was a soft rubber phone. Then there was a little party with 3 mob members having fun telling stories. Andrew DiDonato was there, Frank Cullotta was there, and Henry Hill was there. It was interesting because all 3 were different areas and eras of gangs. They were having a good ole time and it was fun for all. Little did we know, that night, there was a huge mob bust in the northeast.

The fourth week had Andrew DiDonato talking about last weeks mob bust. In his days, there was a structured level of captains, lieutenants, and other bosses. It was all based on loyalty and cash productivity. If one boss thought he might go to jail, he would put someone in his position until he got out. Normally, you would put in your best and brightest man because he would hold the gang together and stay productive. The downside is that when you got out of prison, you had to fight your way back up the ladder to your old position, and that meant killing people you respected. Nowadays, if someone goes to prison, they put in a weaker link, or cousin, or nephew or something because it will be easier to get your position back. The downside of this is that they don't know how to run an operation. The inferior officers feel jealous that they weren't picked, and productivity goes in the toilet. Andrew said that he knew many of the people that got busted in the previous week. The FBI said that much of their info came from wiretapping. Even in Andrew's days…mid/early 1970's…you never gave info on the phone because of wire tapping. Computers have come a long way in 40 years and if these guys were sloppy enough to give evidence over the phone, they deserve to be busted. Robert Allen was there on the fourth week talking about being an entertainer in the Chicago and Las Vegas mob eras. It was so much more fun to be an entertainer back then. Antoinette Giancana was there and talked about her family and her dad. They lived a very nice upscale lifestyle. She met all of the wise guys in the day. She was even in Playboy.

The big part of the fourth week was Oscar Goodman. He talked and talked and talked, and everyone listened. I guess his best story was how became a mob lawyer. After he married Carolyn and moved to Las Vegas, Carolyn's parents sent them $25 a month with the stipulation that they have fun with it and not use it to pay bills. Carolyn was the brains of the family and she used to gamble it at the Hacienda playing blackjack. She was a card counter. Oscar would just stand behind her and watch her win. Casino dealers were more friendly in those days they kinda got to know Oscar and Carolyn. One day a dealer asked Oscar to file a bankruptcy for him and Oscar did. He did a good job at a really cheap price and everyone was happy. One day, a long distance phone call came to the Hacienda pit and the caller asked who the best lawyer in Las Vegas was. The pit boss covered the handset and hollered to the dealers, asking them who the best lawyer was. One dealer said, "Oscar Goodman is a great guy", so the pit boss told the caller to call Oscar. That night, Oscar got a call and the voice said to come to XXXX address at 11pm tonight. Oscar was all nervous and he and Carolyn drove to the address and went to the door. The door opened and someone gave him and envelope and said, "here's three dimes, you'll get a call later" and shut the door. Oscar and Carolyn drove around for a while and then opened the envelope to find three thousand dollars. Later Oscar got the call, and prepared the defendant for Oscars first mob case. Oscar cleaned the guy up and bought him a nice suit. He was nervous as could be and even puked on the courthouse steps. He pleaded the case on his client wasn't really involved and should be dropped. While the case was being deliberated, Oscar and his client waited a while and decided to walk to his office a few blocks away. He asked Oscar if it was better or worse if they deliberate a long time. Unknowingly, Oscar replied, "the longer the better". Just as they walked into his office, the phone rang, and it was a call that the verdict was in and they needed to rush back to the courthouse. Oscar won. This was just about the time that the Feds started using wiretap evidence in court and Oscar got in on the ground floor of defending that. And that was something used heavily against the mob.

There were a lot of great stories and interesting people this month telling stories. I'm really looking forward to the opening of the Mob Museum downtown and the Mob Experience in the Trop.