Louis Rothkopf
Named by Cleveland's public safety director in 1951 among the city's leading Prohibition bootleggers; a Cleveland record printed by the Kefauver Committee lists the aliases Lou Rhody and John Zarumba and a 1937 internal revenue case.
- Aliases
- Lou Rhody, John Zarumba, Lou Rothkopf
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records and the filed newspaper pages state.
On the record
- 1937 — Kefauver exhibit 31: "Criminal record.— Place: Cleveland ... Date: 1937. Charge: Internal revenue laws. Disposition: 4 years." It says he "is reported to have been arrested several times in Cleveland for robbery and murder"; those are reports of arrests, not convictions.
- 1951-01 — Kefauver Committee: Sutton named "Lou Rothkopf" among the top Cleveland bootleggers. Accountant Alvin Giesey said Rothkopf was among four men who owned two-thirds of 10,000 shares of the Detroit Steel Corp.
- 1957-06-30 — FBI Cleveland file on John Scalish: an informant reported that a headstone was placed that day on the grave of a "former key member of the Cleveland 'syndicate' who died recently"; the name on the scanned report reads "LOU" before a redaction-damaged line, so the identification is the OCR's, not confirmed on the image.
- 1988-04-15 — Angelo Lonardo, Senate testimony: named "Lou Rothkopf, also dead," among "the Jewish Boys." Testimony.
No family or role is set. The aliases are those printed in exhibit 31. The committee’s contempt report on him is Senate Report 209. No filed record gives his birth date or the date of his death.
Records
itemKefauver Committee exhibits 31 and 32: records of Louis Rothkopf and Morris Kleinman (January 1951)Two record summaries placed in evidence during Alvin Sutton's testimony and printed on page 455: exhibit 31 for Louis Rothkopf, 'also known as Lou Rhody, John Zarumba', with a 1937 internal revenue case; exhibit 32 for Morris Kleinman, with a 1933 income tax evasion sentence.itemKefauver Committee, Cleveland: testimony of Public Safety Director Alvin G. Sutton (January 1951)Cleveland's Director of Public Safety, Alvin G. Sutton, gave the committee his account of the city's Prohibition bootleggers, naming Morris Kleinman, Lou Rothkopf, Moe Dalitz, Sam Tucker and Maxie Diamond, their move into gambling in Kentucky and Las Vegas, and the later numbers rackets.itemKefauver Committee, Cleveland: testimony of accountant Alvin E. Giesey (January 1951)Cleveland accountant Alvin E. Giesey, whose firm prepared returns for Morris Kleinman, Moe Dalitz, Louis Rothkopf, Sam Tucker and others, testified about their joint holdings, including two-thirds of 10,000 shares of the Detroit Steel Corp.
itemSenate Report 209: proceedings against Louis Rothkopf (1951)Senate Report No. 209, 82d Congress, 1st Session, on the Kefauver Committee's contempt proceedings against Louis Rothkopf, who refused to answer questions. The report accompanies S. Res. 120 and annexes excerpts of the hearing record.itemSenate subcommittee hearing, 1988: testimony of Angelo LonardoOn 15 April 1988 Angelo Lonardo, testifying behind a screen under a court immunity order, told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that he was 'the former underboss of the Cleveland organized crime family' and described its leaders, its Las Vegas casino income and its dealings with New York and Chicago.