Casino

by Nicholas Pileggi

  But three safety deposit boxes at the First National Bank of Nevada, Strip branch, remained in both their names. According to Rosenthal, he needed someone to have access to the cash if he was under arrest or otherwise unable to get to his own money.

  Lefty had also gotten Geri to agree that she would lose her right “to care, custody and control of their minor children if she engaged in alcohol and or barbiturates.”

  Geri’s letter to Robin:

  4-5-79

  3:12 AM

  My Dearest Robin …

  Honey I don’t want to worry you but I don’t know how much more I can take here. As I sit here tonight I have a cracked rib, 2 black eyes, bruises all over my body & I don’t have to tell you how I got all of it. All in the last two weeks. Last night he came home drunk & choked me until I lost consciousness. I really can’t tell this to anyone but you because no one cares. Believe it or not I can handle all the shit but I also might take the gun & fuckin kill him one night. He almost killed me last night. When I regained consciousness he was standing over me so drunk & ready to kick me. He doesn’t even care or know what he’s doing anymore when he drinks. Tonight he came home and started again so I screamed at him to go back out & leave me alone & he started to get mean again so I just sat there & let him rant & rave & prayed he wouldn’t hit me again. I’m deathly afraid of him….

  Please write me. I love you & don’t talk on my phone—he listens—Mom.

  “We were in the Jubilation and Tony got the idea of whacking Lefty,” Frank Cullotta said. “He didn’t say Lefty’s name. He said ‘the Jew.’ He said, ‘The Jew, I’m not sure yet. But if I’m right, I need you to get a guy. You got somebody?’

  “I says, ‘Yeah, the big guy.’

  “He says, ‘Well, I don’t want you hitting him on the street.’

  “I says, ‘Who?’

  “He says, ‘The Jew.’

  “He says, ‘I’ll set him up, so when he pulls up, you scoop him. You’ll know where the hole’s at.’

  “We’d just have to move the plywood, drop him in the hole and cover it up.

  “And then Tony says, ‘But I’ll let you know when.’

  “I says, ‘Okay.’

  “He says, ‘I’ll let you know, but for now I’m not sure.’

  “She started staying out all night,” Murray Ehrenberg said. “Who knew what she was doing? She was either loaded or high most of the time. But Frank wasn’t much better. He was getting drunk and bouncing around every night with his dancers. He’s throwing money away. Buying them this. Buying them that. He lost a bundle playing blackjack. He was probably the worst blackjack player I ever saw, or else he was punishing himself for something.”

  “I owned the Upper Crust Pizzeria,” Frank Cullotta said. “We had food, but it was also a hangout. One morning, really early, we were still preparing the food—it must have been seven, eight, eight thirty—Geri pulls up. She comes out of the car and leaves the car door open. She looks haggard. She was the kind of woman you didn’t want to challenge in public because she could make a real scene. She’d flail around and scream and swing her arms, and she was tall and striking looking and she was a nightmare to handle.

  “She comes storming into the restaurant yelling, ‘Where the fuck is he?’

  “‘Please, Geri,’ I say, ‘calm down; don’t make a commotion.’

  “‘I want to see him now,’ she says. ‘Where is he? I’m gonna kill that motherfucker. Now.’

  “I tell my old lady to watch her—she’s hysterical. We put her in a booth in the lounge and I lock the front door. She wanted to talk to Tony immediately.

  “I call Tony and she’s screaming in the background that she’s gonna kill the Jew. Meanwhile, I know if Nancy finds out about all of this with Geri, there’s gonna be hell to pay.

  “Tony never drove in Las Vegas. He always sat in the passenger’s seat. This morning he’s there in two minutes. He had Sammy Siegel drive him. Sammy would be at his house from early till late playing gin rummy with Tony and taking Tony anywhere he wanted to go. That was Sammy’s job.

  “Tony walks in the door and he tells me to move her car around back so nobody sees it. I told Ernie to put her car in back.

  “I walked away, but I can see that he’s talking to her and he’s moving his hands up and down in a chopping motion like he always did, and she’s got tears come down her face and she’s nodding a little bit, and finally he tells her to leave.

  “Her car was ’round back and we’re standing there when she drove off. Tony turns and looks at me. ‘I fucked up,’ he said.”

  21

  “I just fucked Tony Spilotro.”

  “FRANK WAS SCARED to death,” Murray Ehrenberg said. “Frank was a pretty private guy. He never wanted to show his emotions. He never did. He was always in himself, except the night he called and asked me to come over. That’s the first time I ever heard panic in his voice. ‘Come on over,’ he said, ‘and bring a gun.’ He said he needed some protection. He said he didn’t want to be alone for some reason. He wanted somebody there. I thought maybe he needs protection and a witness or something. I said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be right there. And I’ll bring my kid’s hunting rifle. When I saw him he was really in shock. It’s the first time I’d ever seen him that way, and I’d worked for him for years.

  “After I got there he calmed down and we were sitting there half asleep when we hear this noise. We jumped up and went outside and here comes Geri. She was pie-eyed. Her eyes were wild. She was out of it. Absolutely wild. She went right through the garage door. She dented up the car. I was standing there. She just missed my feet. She didn’t even wait for the garage door to lift. She hit the door on the bottom.

  “She’d been out all night.”

  “I could hear her through the closed windows,” Lefty said. “I could hear her say, ‘Where are my kids, you motherfucker?’

  “Geri didn’t usually talk that way. That’s another reason why I thought there was something the matter with her. Booze? Pills? Drugs? What, I didn’t know.

  “I asked her to roll down the window, which she did by about one inch, and I got as close as I could and asked her to cool it. ‘Can we talk this over? Be careful.’

  “‘Fuck you,’ she screams again, and puts the car in gear and crashes into the lowered garage door.

  “Now the neighbors are all up and they’re standing in the street, and now a couple of cop cars show up at the house. There are two cops there. I know them.

  “Geri says she wants to get into the house. The hell with her, I say. But I know I don’t stand a chance. She’s got me dead. Here’s the nice wife of the notorious casino guy and gambler with connections to the mob. The whole nine yards. I’d be chopped meat to her in court.

  “Still, in response to Geri’s request, I ask her, ‘Where’s your asshole boyfriend?’

  “‘What boyfriend?’ she says, straight faced.

  “‘You know who,’ I tell her.

  “Geri turns to the cops and demands that they get me to let her in the house. It’s half my house, she says.

  “The two cops are anti-Frank Rosenthal. No question about it. I’m Mr. Notorious.

  “‘Hey Frank,’ one of them says, ‘why don’t you let her in the house? Let her in so we can all go home.’

  “I say I’ll give her the key if she only stays in there five minutes. Why not? The money, the jewelry, the kids are all gone. There’s nothing for her to steal.

  “In about three minutes she’s out of the house. I’m in the driveway with Murray Ehrenberg and the cops. She has her hands behind her back.

  “She gets to about ten feet of me and she twirls around and she has a pistol aimed at my head. The cops took off. You’ve never seen anybody run like they did. They ran back to behind their cars and hid.

  “Geri looks at me and she says: ‘I want my money and jewelry or I’ll kill you.’

  “She’s waving the gun all around the place.

  “And who pulls up around no
w but Nancy Spilotro.

  “Nancy starts talking to Geri and she starts taking Geri’s side. I said, ‘Nancy, this is not your problem. You’ve got your own problems.’

  “And out of the corner of my eye I see Tony Spilotro drive by real quick. He’s in a car and he’s wearing a cap and beard.

  “The cops are telling Geri to put the gun down. Nancy tells Geri to put the gun down. I said, ‘Geri, don’t shoot. You don’t want to go to the electric chair.’

  “It’s almost humorous, it’s so mad.

  “Suddenly, Nancy grabs Geri’s arm and the cops come from behind the cars and quickly cuff her. Then I get dumb in the head. I see Geri there with her hands cuffed and she starts crying. ‘Dear,’ she says, ‘they’re hurting me! Don’t let them hurt me. Don’t let them do it.’

  “I tell the cops to let her alone. I told them I’m not pressing any charges and we’ve got a license for the gun.

  “I’m worn-out. I guess I was still trying to save something here. I don’t know. Looking back it doesn’t make sense. None of it made any sense.

  “Anyway, after the cops left, we all went into the house. Geri and me and Murray Ehrenberg.”

  LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT OFFICER’S REPORT

  D.R. 80-72481

  09-08-80 0900 HRS

  Location of Occurrence … 972 Vegas Valley Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. Country Club Estates.

  DETAILS:

  On 09-08-80 at approximately 0900 hours, this date, I, Officer Archer and Officer Brady Frank were dispatched to the Country Club Estates, 972 Vegas Valley Drive, Las Vegas, NV in regards to a family disturbance which was getting out of hand and reported by Security of the Country Club Estates.

  Upon arrival we were at the East Security Gate, we were contacted by Mrs. Frank Rosenthal, who was extremely upset and wanted to return to her residence, at 972 Vegas Valley Drive, and retrieve her personal belongings.

  At this time she was also talking about the Security officers not accompanying her to her house, that she would contact the FBI.

  While trying to obtain information from Mrs. Frank Rosenthal, a Nancy Spilotro arrived in an Oldsmobile, bearing Ut, (Utah) NLE697, blue in color. Mrs. Rosenthal was driving a tan Mercedes coupe, CWN014, NV.

  Mrs. Spilotro advised these Officers that she was here to pick up Mrs. Frank Rosenthal and that Mrs. Rosenthal was extremely upset and hysterical, however, Mrs. Rosenthal refused to get in the vehicle with her and sped off down the street with her Mercedes.

  Mrs. Spilotro advised these Officers that there was a shouting match and that she would assist in attempting to remedy the disturbance between the husband and wife.

  We all went to 972 Vegas Valley Drive and Mr. Frank Rosenthal was in the driveway with his wife, his wife rammed the rear of his Cadillac that was in the garage with her personal vehicle, being a Mercedes, causing minor damage.

  We managed to get the vehicle shut off and Mrs. Frank Rosenthal started an argument with her husband, however, he did not wish the Officers’ assistance and stated it was only a family disturbance and that he would take care of it and resolve the situation.

  Nancy Spilotro also was assisting Frank Rosenthal in trying to calm his wife and keep the disturbance from annoying the neighbors in the area. At this time they asked these officers if everything was in order and the officers could leave.

  These officers started to leave at which time Mrs. Frank Rosenthal ran into the residence at 972 Vegas Valley locking her husband, Frank, outside.

  She then came out a side entrance of the residence and came around the front holding her stomach. She was screaming about jewelry and that Frank had hers and she wanted it. Along with money.

  These Officers were not aware of the fact that she had a weapon until she started across the street in front of 972 Vegas Valley Drive at which time, a chrome-plated .38 special was seen by these officers after she had pulled it from her blouse.

  She was waving the gun about, these officers requested assistance. At which time, Nancy Spilotro approached Mrs. Frank Rosenthal, managing to calm her down some and then as she had her back up against the building, Mrs. Spilotro grabbed Mrs. Rosenthal about the arms, wrestling her to the ground, at which time, these Officers closed in and assisted Nancy Spilotro in taking the weapon from Mrs. Frank Rosenthal.

  The weapon being a .38 caliber snub-nose Smith & Wesson chrome plate, air weight, “Ladies Special,” Serial #37J508. “Geri Rosenthal” was engraved on the pearl handle. It had a capacity of 5 rounds of .38 caliber cartridges. The one cartridge out of the hammer of this weapon had been spent and fired, however, it is not known by these officers if it was fired inside the house or at another time. The weapon was impounded for safekeeping by this Officer A. Archer.

  During all this family disturbance, Mrs. Frank Rosenthal kept telling her husband that she was going to the FBI. He told her, “go ahead, you fink.” He stated, if she did, she would be in trouble herself. Mr. Frank Rosenthal took his wife into custody, after the officer had retrieved the weapon along with Nancy Spilotro and took her off into the garage area of the residence again. And had closed the garage automatic locking doors excluding these officers from the building area.

  “We were in the kitchen,” Ehrenberg said. “Nancy went home. Geri started washing dishes. Like nothing was wrong. She was just standing there. She’d settled down. You know. Frank and I were talking and he looks up at her. She had just turned around, as if she’s looking for cigarettes, and he says, ‘What?’

  “And out of the clear blue sky, she said, ‘I just fucked Tony Spilotro.’ That’s exactly what she said. I was there. In the house. I heard it. She said, ‘I just fucked Tony Spilotro.’

  “Frank said, ‘What did you say?’

  “She said: ‘I just fucked Tony Spilotro.’

  “He said: ‘Shut your mouth.’ He didn’t get excited, like, you know, a husband would. Like, ‘I’ll kick your ass, you tramp,’ or anything. He said, ‘Keep your mouth shut.’

  “I mean it must have hit him like a hammer. With his ego and everything. She could have picked anybody in the world but this guy. Then she said she had to make a phone call and didn’t want to use any of the phones in the house. She drove away so fast we could hear her bouncing over the speed bumps.

  “After she left, we sat around for a few minutes when he jumped up. That’s when he realized that she was going to the bank.

  “He said get in the car. And me, like a schmuck, I got in the car. He drove. He was going lickety split because the bank was on the Strip.”

  LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT

  80-72481 9-08-80

  This is a continuation of the Officer’s report dictated by Officer A. Archer PN489 on 9-08-80 of a Family Disturbance occurring at the Rosenthal residence at 972 Vegas Valley Drive.

  DETAILS:

  At approximately 1030 hours I, Officer B. Frank, and Officer A. Archer, were dispatched to a recall to a family disturbance at the Las Vegas Country Club Estates. The person calling, being Mrs. Rosenthal, asked that the Officers meet her at the Karen Avenue entrance of the Las Vegas Country Club at the guard station.

  I was the first Unit arriving there, being Unit 2-J-2, and contacted Mrs. Rosenthal, who was on the telephone at the guard station.

  After approximately one minute, she turned to this Officer while still on the phone and asked me to talk to the subject she was conversing with, being a Mr. Bob Ballou, who she stated was president of the First National Bank, Strip office.

  I then talked to the subject, Mr. Ballou, who stated that he had been contacted by Mr. Rosenthal and also Mrs. Rosenthal separately during the previous night and early morning hours in regards to items owned by the Rosenthals which were in safety deposit boxes at his bank office.

  He further stated that he advised each of them that the items in the safety deposit boxes were held in joint ownership and if either of them wished to pick the items up, they could do so at the bank opening at 1000 hours on Monday morning,
being 9-08-80.

  Apparently there had been a request to remove items from the safety deposit boxes either by one or both of the Rosenthals prior to the ten o’clock opening. Mr. Ballou related to me that Mrs. Rosenthal stated she was going to be enroute to the bank mentioned above and it possibly would be a good idea to have an Officer present at the arrival because of the family disturbance which was involved here earlier. I advised him that if so requested by Mrs. Rosenthal, I would follow her to the bank to keep the peace at that location. At this time I hung up and immediately Mrs. Rosenthal asked me to accompany her, following her vehicle to the bank that she was going to remove items from the safety deposit boxes at the FNB at 2780 Las Vegas Boulevard South.

  I then advised control that I would be following Mrs. Rosenthal who was driving a tan Mercedes coupe bearing Nevada license CWN014 from the Country Club entrance to the FNB on the Strip. She advised on arriving that she was going to remove her belongings from the safety deposit boxes. I advised her I was there to keep the peace and what she did with the bank was her own personal business.

  Inside the bank there was some yelling by Mrs. Rosenthal directed at Mr. Ballou who apparently is the bank vice president at that branch. Mrs. Rosenthal presented, I believe, it was two or three keys for boxes which were then carried out by Mrs. Rosenthal and bank employees and set on a counter and Mrs. Rosenthal then removed what appeared to me to be a large quantity of cash. She stated also there was jewelry she was taking from the boxes and also appeared to be some documents removed. Mrs. Rosenthal had stated to this Officer at the Karen entrance and also when we arrived at the bank, that this Officer could have the cash which was in the safety deposit boxes, however, this Officer advised her that he would not be taking any cash from her under any circumstances. Mrs. Rosenthal then exited the bank and was walking toward her car.

  As Mrs. Rosenthal and myself exited the bank, Sgt. Greenwood arrived at the scene in the front parking lot. These Officers were talking to Mrs. Rosenthal as she put the above mentioned items, being cash, jewelry and documents, in the trunk of her Mercedes vehicle and approximately a couple of minutes later Mrs. Rosenthal was looking toward Las Vegas Boulevard and she stated, “There is Frank.”