Vegas Mob Tour

Shedding some light on the city's dark past

By Caroline Fontein

The mob may have left Vegas but this tour is keeping that part of the city's history alive and well. The Vegas Mob Tour gives guests a chance to delve into the city's dark past on a two-and-a-half hour tour that visits some of the restaurants and other sites where murders, strange disappearances and mob activity occurred.

Guests are met in the Royal Resorts Hotel lobby by the tour guide who escorts everyone to the bus parked behind the hotel. Once aboard the bus, guests get a 20-minute introduction from the tour guide, which includes a video clip about the history of Vegas and an explanation of common mob terms like where the world mafia was derived from and what being "made" and "street tax" means.

At the start of the tour the guide explains that much of his information and the sites on the tour are based on the books "Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness," a biography of notorious mobster Frank Cullottta and "The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law vs. The Mob," a non-fiction book about the Chicago mob enforcer Tony "The Ant" Spilotro's reign in Vegas. Both books were written by Dennis N. Griffin who retired from his position as the Director of Investigations for the New York State Department of Health after working in law enforcement for more than 20 years.

"About 95 percent of what I say is true," says Tony, the guide giving the tour on the night it was attended.

After the in-depth introduction the bus departs the parking lot, and you're off to see the first mob site on the tour. As the bus makes its way to the next stop the tour guide provides you with a wealth of information on the history of the mob and how the mafia became intertwined with the city's past.

Along with the books, throughout the tour, the guide also alludes to the movie "Casino" directed by Martin Scorsese. For those of you who haven't seen it, the movie depicts when the mob was at the height of its control in Vegas during the '70s and '80s and Tony "The Ant" Spilotro (called Nicky Santoro in the movie and played by Joe Pesci) and Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal (called Sam 'Ace' Rothstein in the movie and played by Robert De Niro) were pivotal players. The characters in the movie and the storyline are all based on real people and events.

One of the more notable stops on the tour is at the house that was used as Rothstein's house in the movie. The house is still in immaculate condition today and inhabited by a Vegas resident. While some of the stops on the tour may be less glamorous than seeing this site, the detailed history provided by the tour guide makes them all the more intriguing.

Another stop on the tour is near a jewelry store, the Tower of Jewels, which was once Bertha's Fine Furnishings and the place where Cullotta and other men in his crew of burglars, branded the Hole in the Wall Gang, were finally apprehended and arrested as a result of a botched burglary. While sitting in a parking lot, the guide gives a detailed account of what happened the evening of July 4, 1981 when Cullotta and his gang were caught. It's interesting to hear his riveting explanation and be able to see the same building where those events took place.

It might not be Elvis, showgirls or some of the other lavish entertainment offerings that the city is known for, but the Vegas Mob Tour lets you in on some of the dark secrets that helped make Vegas what it is today.