DISORGANIZED CRIME | Bluestein | WED 02/08/12

This week we are taking a look at the activities of "La Cosa Nostra" in our city's past. It dates back to at least the 1940s and elements still exist today. But the period many refer to as "the mob era" was the mid-60s through early 80s. Despite its title News 3's Tom Hawley tells us many of the criminals weren't organized at all. Men like Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, Frank Cullotta, "Fat Herbie" Blitztein and Gaspar Speciale seemed to run free with loan-sharking, burglary and murder and they were all drawn here around the casino skim. The battle to take the worst offenders down began in earnest in 1979. A year later, the operation resulted in an unexpected turn that ratcheded up the tension on both sides.

View Count: 0 Date: February 9, 2012