Joseph Stacher
Named in an FBI Los Angeles report of 1963 as the person the Las Vegas Office believed the Sands Hotel's owner of record "now appears to be a front for," with the Gerardo Catena group. The Second Circuit records the Government's belief in 1961 and 1962 that he held undisclosed interests in Las Vegas gambling.
- Aliases
- Doc Stacher, Gdale Oistaczer
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state.
On the record
- 1963 — An FBI Los Angeles report says the Las Vegas Office advised that Aaron Weisberg, "owner of record of 6.87% in the Sands Hotel, Las Vegas," "now appears to be a front for Joseph Stacher and the Gerardo Catena group." It also says the Las Vegas Office learned of a planned meeting among "Joseph Stacher, top hoodlum of the Los Angeles Division," Catena and an individual from Miami to "decide future plans for the Sands Hotel" (Vault, as far as the OCR can be read).
- 30 August 1963 — The same report records a source's account that Stacher checked into the Flamingo Hotel at Las Vegas on August 30, 1963, visited the Fremont, Horseshoe, Dunes, Desert Inn and Stardust on August 30 and 31, and was seen gambling at the Dunes. The report does not say he held an interest in any of them.
- 1961 — United States v. Cole, 463 F.2d 163 (2d Cir. 1972): the FBI's eavesdropping in 1961 and 1962 was begun to assist "a full-scale investigation of Stacher, who was believed to hold a high position in organized crime and to own undisclosed interests in Las Vegas gambling establishments, with a view to a prosecution for tax evasion on a large scale."
- 1963 — In re Refusal of the Witnesses Levinson, 219 F. Supp. 589 (S.D. Cal. 1963), says witnesses before a grand jury were told that the investigation "concerns possible income tax evasion by Mr. Joseph (Doc) Stacher."
- 15 November 1950 — William J. Moore of the Nevada Tax Commission testified to the Kefauver Committee that "recently a license was denied in Reno, principally due to the man's associates in New Jersey," and, asked by counsel whether that was Stacher, answered "Stacher" (Part 10, pp. 24-25).
This page is limited to the records cited. The FBI called Stacher a “top hoodlum of the Los Angeles Division,” which is the Bureau’s program label and not a rank or a family, so no family or role is given here. The FBI’s statements are reports of what informants and offices said, and the Second Circuit’s are statements of what the Government believed. A Bureau report that he visited a casino is not a statement that he held an interest in it. No Vault file page images were available for this page, and the FBI wording is as far as the OCR can be read.
Records
itemFBI Los Angeles reports of 1963 on Joseph Stacher and the Sands HotelFBI Los Angeles reports of 1963 on Joseph Stacher (Los Angeles file 92-386), including the Las Vegas Office's statement that the owner of record of 6.87 percent of the Sands Hotel "now appears to be a front for Joseph Stacher and the Gerardo Catena group."itemUnited States v. Cole, 463 F.2d 163 (2d Cir. 1972)Second Circuit opinion of June 6, 1972 in a tax case against an advertising agency and its officers, stating that illegal FBI eavesdropping in 1961-62 began as part of an investigation of Joseph Stacher, "believed to hold a high position in organized crime and to own undisclosed interests in Las Vegas gambling establishments."itemKefauver Committee, Las Vegas session (15 November 1950)The printed record of the Special Committee's Las Vegas session of November 15, 1950 (Part 10, pp. 1-104): testimony on the race-wire service, the Flamingo Hotel's ownership, the Desert Inn and Benjamin Siegel, by Nevada officials, Louis Wiener, Wilbur Clark and Moe Sedway.