Anthony Spilotro

On the record

• 1977–1978 — United States v. Spilotro, 800 F.2d 959 (9th Cir. 1986), recounting an FBI investigation: "The suspects were Anthony Spilotro, an alleged member of Chicago's La Costa Nostra; Herbert Blitzstein, an associate of Anthony Spilotro; John Spilotro, Anthony's brother and associate; and Joseph Blasko, an officer of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department." Surveillance "indicated Anthony Spilotro was conducting loan shark and bookmaking operations from his jewelry store, the Gold Rush, Ltd." He was its sole shareholder. The court affirmed suppression of evidence from the store because the warrants were too general, and noted that "the subsequent death of Anthony Spilotro has rendered the case against him moot." The words "alleged member" are the court's summary of the investigation, not a finding.
• 14 July 1981 — United States v. Spilotro, 680 F.2d 612 (9th Cir. 1982): "On July 14, 1981, appellant Spilotro was named in a nine-count indictment" alleging that he and three co-defendants conducted the affairs of Gold Rush, Ltd., a Las Vegas jewelry store, through dealing in stolen jewelry and wire fraud. The court remanded for a full hearing on a pretrial restraining order.
• July 1980 — FBI Las Vegas surveillance logs of July 3 to 4, 1980 on the Upper Crust Pizzaria and My Place, in the Vault's Cullotta file, have the entry "Anthony Spilotro observed through front windows of UCP"; a later log has "Tony Spilotro" entering the Upper Crust with others (as far as the OCR can be read).
• October 1982 — An FBI Las Vegas teletype on the bombing of Frank Rosenthal's car calls Rosenthal "an admitted close associate of Chicago LCN member Anthony John Spilotro, also known as Tony Spilotro, who also resides in Las Vegas, Nevada."
• October 1983 — United States v. Spilotro, 786 F.2d 808 (8th Cir. 1986), says that after his arrest on the Argent skimming indictment he "was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond" by a federal magistrate in Nevada. The same opinion records the Government's allegation that the 1983 indictment charged a conspiracy to hold hidden interests in Las Vegas casinos and skim more than $2 million.
• 24 February 1986 — United States v. Spilotro, 786 F.2d 808 (8th Cir. 1986): "The government alleged that appellant Spilotro and others acted as the Las Vegas representatives for those co-conspirators, including appellants Aiuppa and Cerone, who lived in or near Chicago, Illinois." His case had been severed for a separate trial.
• June 1986 — A 1993 FBI Chicago airtel (Vault, Part 01, p. 48) states that "in June of 1986, ANTHONY SPILOTRO, a known Chicago LCN member and his brother, MICHAEL SPILOTRO, a known Chicago LCN associate and suspected LCN member, were murdered and buried in an Indiana cornfield."
• 1986 — United States v. Cerone, 830 F.2d 938 (8th Cir. 1987): "The district court severed the case of Anthony Spilotro from the others, and he died several months after trial," and "In 1986, the bodies of co-defendant Anthony Spilotro and his brother were discovered in an Indiana cornfield."
• 25 April 2005 — The U.S. Attorney's release on the Family Secrets indictment refers to "deceased 'made' member Anthony Spilotro" and lists among the charged murders "Anthony and Michael Spilotro, on or about June 14, 1986, in DuPage County." These are the indictment's allegations.

“Tony” is from the Vault file (“ANTHONY SPILOTRO, aka TONY”); the longer forms are the 1986 opinion’s. The death year is stated by the FBI airtel and the Eighth Circuit. The day is given only as an indictment allegation (“on or about June 14, 1986”), so the died field gives the year.

The family and role lines quote the FBI and the U.S. Attorney. The Eighth Circuit’s words about Las Vegas are the Government’s allegation as the court summarized it. This page states the killing only as those records state it.

The Las Vegas records are the Ninth Circuit’s account of the FBI’s 1977 and 1978 investigation and of the Gold Rush search, FBI surveillance logs and a teletype from the Las Vegas office, and the Eighth Circuit’s account of the 1983 indictment. They describe charges, allegations and investigations. Spilotro’s case on the 1983 indictment was severed, and the Eighth Circuit says he died after the trial, so no court decided the charges against him. The FBI’s statements that he was a Chicago LCN member are in the airtel and teletype quoted above and are the FBI’s statements. This page does not state a rank.

Records