NHB, MMA, Kickboxing, Boxing, Grappling -- All the news, all the time! UPDATED 24 HOURS A DAY
BY SCOOP MCTROLL
Before reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.In the January of
2001 the ailing reality fighting contest known as
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, was purchased from its founder, the
SEG CORPORATION by
ZUFFA LLC. Three men,
Frank Fertitta III, his younger brother
Lorenzo Fertitta and their
brother in law, the low profile but nonetheless powerful,
Blake Sartini, are the owners of
ZUFFA LLC. Sartini has since resigned from Station Casino's however and his current role in ZUFFA is unknown to this reporter.
Frank III (left) and Lorenzo (right).The
Fertitta brothers
Frank III and
Lorenzo, take the limelight in this
partnership and have recently become known to millions of people through the reality television show
'American Casino'. As the
CEO and
President respectively, of the Station Casinos Empire, they appear on the surface to be amiable and successful young businessmen.
Las Vegas residents may know of Frank through his involvement in many charities and community projects, including Catholic Charities, Opportunity Village and the Las Vegas Chapter of the I Have A Dream Foundation. They may know of
Lorenzo Fertitta from his time on the board of the
Nevada State Athletic Commission, or as the chairman of the
Nevada Resort Association. The two brothers donate
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to the
Republican Party and they are an integral part of the
Las Vegas A-list social scene. Many people have wondered just
how they came to be so
successful at such relatively young ages and where they came from. Our in depth report
'The Z-Files' will explore these issues and attempt to throw some light on the
history of the
family behind
The Ultimate Fighting Championship. I hope you enjoy reading
The Z-Files; it is the result of several months of research.
Part II
In 1960
Las Vegas was a sleazy paradise for the
scum of society,
the mob was heavily invested in Vegas, through both the covert ownership of Casinos and in the
skimming scam that earned them
millions of dollars. Guiseppi 'Nick'
Civella was the head of the
Kansas City mob and along with his brother, Carl 'The Cork', had been making a fortune through illicit means in Vegas casinos. They received a setback however when they became charter members of the infamous
Nevada "Black Book", which banned them from all Vegas gaming venues for life. Their nephew, Anthony Civella would soon become the third family member to end up in the black book. This meant that they needed to find another way of getting some of the money being splashed around Vegas.
Frank Fertitta jr. arrived in Vegas in the same year and his family's reputation appeared to open many doors for him. He
immediately got work in one of the Casino's and his official job was that of a
bellboy. In a remarkable rate of success, Frank soon became a
Blackjack dealer and then worked his way into
management. Throughout the 1960's
Frank Fertitta jr gained a reputation for being a
street smart operator who understood the business as well as anyone could. Not bad for a guy who arrived in town a few years prior with little more than the shirt on his back, or so the story goes.
Nick's nephew Anthony Civella, another Black Book member.
The infamous Nevada Gaming Commission Black BookDuring this same period, the
Kansas City mob were eager to get their claws back into some of the Vegas revenue. In 1970 the
FBI ran surveillance on
Nick Civella through the use of wire taps and acquired enough evidence to arrest him and several other mobsters for fixing the
Superbowl between Kansas and Minnesota. An associate of
Civella's named
Sol Landie was given immunity in return for testifying against
Civella. In November that same year,
Landie's home was invaded by
4 black men who forced him to watch as they
stripped his wife naked and
forced her to commit
felatio on each one of them. Then they took turns at
savagely raping and
sodomizing her while forcing
Landie to watch the entire ordeal. Once they had
finished with his
wife, they
murdered Landie. Before they left, they arranged the room to look as though it was a
botched robbery attempt. A few days later the 4 men were arrested and they
admitted that they had been paid to
kill Landie because of his
testimony. Eventually,
Nick Civella would serve 20 months for his part in the
Superbowl scam.
By the early 1970's the
Kansas City mob had struck up an association with a high profile Vegas Casino star named
Carl Thomas. Thomas was soon taken under the wing of the
Kansas City mob and he was used by them as a front man, a respectable cover for the mob. The
Kansas City mob controlled the notorious
Teamsters Union and they had been using the Teamster union
members fund money for several years to fund illegal activities. Using Teamsters Union money, the mob purchased several casinos in
Las Vegas, the most famous one being the
Stardust. Through a
strawman named Alan
Glick, the
Kansas City mob also purchased and sold The Fremont, the Tropicana, the Hacienda and the Marina during the 1970's.
Carl Thomas had been made the Chief Executive Officer of Glick's casinos and he quickly recommended his friend
Frank Fertitta jr for a President's position. The
one time bellboy was now the
President of the
Fremont and worked directly under the mob
stooge, Alan
Glick. Many of you may remember Glick's
thinly diguised character
'Mr Green' in the Martin Scorcese movie
'Casino' starring Robert De Niro. 'Casino' was based on the true story of the mafia casino skimming operations at Glick's casinos. Skimming operations that, according to FBI wiretap transcripts, Frank Fertitta was involved in.
The movie 'Casino' was based on the skimming of the Fremont Casino, when Frank Fertitta jr was it's President.In 1976 the
Kansas City mobster Carl
Thomas formed a partnership with
Frank Fertitta jr and they started a 5000 square foot gaming venue aptly named
'The Casino', the name would later be changed to
'The Bingo Palace' and eventually
'Palace Station'. Now, Vegas executives did get paid decent salaries even in those days, but it's difficult to believe the official version that together they "scraped together" the money to start 'The Casino'. For one thing,
Carl Thomas was owned by the
Kansas City mob and anything he was involved in,
they were involved in. There is little doubt that at least Thomas's share of 'The Casino' was
backed by mob money, namely that of the
Civella Brothers and their
La Cosa Nostra mafia chapter in Kansas City.
Oddly,
Fertitta and
Thomas continued to work for the other casinos, despite now owning one themselves. As a mafia
strawman, Glick was pushed to one side by the mob and they put their own guys in to run the casinos.
Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and
Tony "The Ant" Spilotro, made millions for the mob by skimming the slot machine takings at the casinos. Rosenthal, who was played by the actor Robert de Niro in the movie 'Casino' (Tony "The Ant" Spilotro was played by Joe Pesci), was officially known as Glick's entertainment director and he allegedly reported to the
mafia bosses in
Kansas and
Chicago, who between them had financed Glick with
$62 million in loans from the
Teamsters Union.
The real Frank 'Lefty' RosenthalThe
FBI had long suspected an elaborate
skimming operation was taking place at some of the four Glick owned casinos and launched 'Operation Strawman', which was a massive
surveillance operation that included telephone
wiretaps. It is in one of these wiretaps that
Frank Fertitta jr becomes implicated in the skimming operation. In this particular scam, the management rigged the scales to make them read only a third of the actual weight of the coins. The
extra money was
skimmed and set aside, later being converted into paper bills. The skimming was taking place at
The Tropicana and at the
Fremont, where
Frank Ferttita jr was the
President.
The Fremont Hotel, where the mob made a killing during Frank Fertitta jr's reign.
The Tropicana Hotel, another victim of the mob's skimming.Below is the transcript of the
FBI wiretap involving
Frank Fertitta jr, Tropicana Manager Don Shepard and Kansas City mobster
Carl Thomas.
FBI Wiretap of the Bingo Palace Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. Feb 7, 1979.9.00pm outgoing call:
Frank Fertitta Jr, Carl Thomas voices heard, inaudible conversation takes place between them as the number 9739-2222 is dialled from The Bingo Palace.
FEMALE OPERATOR: Tropicana
FERTITTA: Don Shepard, please (casino manager)
FERTITTA: Hello Shep.
SHEPARD: Yeah.
FERTITTA: Frank.
SHEPARD: What are you doing?
FERTITTA: I'm sitting here having a glass of wine with Mr. Thomas.
SHEPARD: Oh, good.
FERTITTA: He's telling me how smart he is and, im sitting here listening to him like an idiot.
SHEPARD: Yeah.
FERTITTA: Yeah.
SHEPARD: If you need anybody to tell you how dumb you are come on over, im pretty good at that.
FERTITTA: (Laugh)
SHEPARD: Ah, this, listen this conversation isn't being recorded is it?
FERTITTA: I, I really couldn't tell ya.
SHEPARD: Yeah. Ask, ask, a ask Carl if anybody's going to go boogie-ing tonight. I'm ready to boogie, do a little YMCA number.
FERTITTA: You're ready?
SHEPARD: Oh, yeah, shit, yeah.
FERTITTA: Jesus Christ, I don't believe this.
SHEPARD: I'm just sitting here, my legs are twitching. I can hardly wait to dance.
FERTITTA: We, were just talking about going out of town or something.
SHEPARD: Oh, yeah, well actually I should go out of town to dance.
INTERUPTION OF RECORDING
SHEPARD: Did you see me?
FERTITTA: I didn't see you.
SHEPARD: Oh?
FERTITTA: No.
SHEPARD: A quarter of it whatever.
FERTITTA: Right, so if these coins cost us say $20,000, we got $150,000 on, you know, we're going to have like $130,000 in excess cash.
SHEPARD: Yeah.
FERTITTA: You know.
SHEPARD: Yeah. We don't have that problem over here.
FERTITTA: Well, yea, you...well I don't mean excess cash, but I mean more cash than they have so, I don't think its funny here.
SHEPARD: We've got…I've got about like $80,000 stock piled.
FERTITTA: Yeah.
SHEPARD: You know or something, we, we haven't felt any crunch or anything I was just curious if you're, you know.
FERTITTA: Well we had $50,000 see, but I didn't want to make the change over here until we got them all cause $50,000 wouldn't, you know, we couldn’t make the change with 50, so, ah, we need like 150.
SHEPARD: When are you going to switch your tokens?
FERTITTA: As soon as I get them all.
SHEPARD: Yeah.
FERTITTA: I'll switch in fact I think we're supposed to have them all. Oh, Jimmy gave me a date today, but I've forgot what it was. Ah, now maybe next week or something, then I'll probably just go ahead and switch over.
SHEPARD: Okay, well listen I'll talk to you.
FERTITTA: OK
The
FBI swooped on Glick's strawman empire in 1979 and arrested
Fertitta's partner Carl Thomas, Glick, the
Civello Brothers and about a dozen others. Despite the seemingly incriminating wiretap transcript, the FBI could not get enough substantial evidence to charge
Fertitta. Despite the testimony of former
Fremont Security Chief, Harold
McBride, where he swore under oath that
Frank Fertitta jr had been
involved in the
skimming operation at the
Fremont, and wiretap evidence of the
Civella's and
Thomas that implicated him,
Fertitta was never charged with the
skimming at
Fremont casino where he presided.
Amazingly, when Thomas first became implicated by the FBI, the
ownership of
The Bingo Palace was transferred solely to
Frank Fertitta jr. Did this mean that Frank Fertitta was now a front man for the
Kansas City mob, or are we to believe that they happily sold him
Thomas's share of the casino and wished him well? It's a tough call, I know.
In 1979 the Nevada Gaming Control board
ordered Glick to
sell up and he did, to associates of
Moe Dalitz, the man that Frank's relative,
Sam Maceo had helped to get started all those years ago.
Glick sold for $2 million in cash, the assumption of $92 million in debts and with another $66 million to be paid from the casino's earnings by 1991.
Although he was one of the few to escape prison,
Frank Fertitta jr did not go completely
unscathed in the aftermath of the skimming scandal.
Fertitta was the target of a four year
investigation by the Nevada Control Board but in 1989 they voted 2-1 not to initiate disciplinary action against him.
Despite this decision,
Fertitta's reputation had been
damaged. Some sources claim that
Frank Fertitta jr knew that his
mob connections could hamper any future applications for gaming licences. Whatever the actual reasons, in 1993
Frank Fertitta jr officially stepped down as the Chairman of the board and handed over to his son,
Frank Fertitta III, or 'Frankie Three Sticks', as he is known in some circles. The company then became public. Station Casino's then applied for licences with the
Missouri Gaming Commission to run casinos in
Missouri. Many would ask if it's possible for a business that was believed to be built on mob money and mob connections to become
squeaky clean simply by changing the name of the Chairman.
In
1993 the
Missouri Gaming Commission called on
Frank Fertitta's former employer and business partner, the convicted casino skimmer
Carl Thomas. They requested information from
Thomas about
Frank Fertitta jr, Thomas agreed to attend an inquiry with them. Before he did this however, Thomas drove to Vegas from his home in Oregon and met with
Station executives to discuss his testimony with them. Noone really knows exactly how that meeting went down or what transpired. The people that do know, arent talking. He then left Vegas to return to Oregon before heading to meet with the
Missouri Gaming Commission. Before he could attend that meeting and give
testimony on
Frank Fertitta's background, Thomas was
killed in a bizarre single car accident, it was a
clear night and the road was in good condition.
Thomas knew the area well. Due to Thomas's untimely death, the Missouri Gaming Commission were
unable to complete their inquiry into Frank Fertitta jr and they
granted licences to Station Casinos.
A Palace Station Frank Fertitta Anniversary Gaming Chip(Above)
A recent photo of Frank Fertitta (Left)Today,
Frank Fertitta jr keeps busy with his finance company, Frank Fertitta Enterprises and with his many positions in the community, including being on the board of Trustees of the University of Las Vegas and a member of the
Bishop Gorman High School Development Corporation.
These days Frank Fertitta jr mixes with the
Governor of Nevada and is a respected member of the Las Vegas community.
Frank Rosenthal (Left), pictured with Frank Sinatra, says Thomas could have been bumped.(See below)
When asked about his former associates
Frank Fertitta jr and
Carl Thomas, the infamous criminal
Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, recollects;
"Carl introduced me to Frank Fertitta, as "my main guy", and his right-hand man. Frank became the President of Allen Glick's Fremont Hotel Casino at the recommendation of Carl Thomas during my temporary absence from the industry while I was awaiting the outcome my appeal versus the Nevada Gaming Commission. When I regained my former position as the CEO of all properties under the "Argent" (Allen R. Glick Enterprises) umbrella Frank and I became more interactive. Frank had gained a solid reputation as a topnotch casino executive who understood the games with a high degree of professionalism. After several private meetings and close personal observation I too agreed that Frank was well suited to operate the second largest Casino in the downtown area.
During the course of the next several years Frank with assistance from Carl Thomas forged an imposing empire. Soon thereafter Carl Thomas died when his car ran off a winding road in the mountains of Oregon, I think he could have been bumped! In 1976 Frank opened the Bingo Palace, ultimately renamed Palace Station. Next came Boulder Station, then Texas Station, Barley's and Sunset Station.
Frank was driving hard on course to become a behemoth within the gaming industry. In 1998 he purchased King 8, renaming it The Wild, Wild West. Next came the Santa Fe and Fiesta casinos. Frank acquired 49 acres near Jackie Gaughn's Suncoast, with future plans to build on other parcels at Craig Ranch Station and Martin Luther King Road. Frank decided he had enough and retired into the sunset. Some guys always seem to windup with all the dirty work. Estimated wealth $1 Billion" - Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal.Coming soon in the Z-files III. Frank Fertitta jr and his son "Frankie Three Sticks" set their sights on Missouri. 'Lucky' Lorenzo joins the family business and the brothers sign up for Boxercise classes. Watch this space for the Z-Files III.
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The History of the family behind the Ultimate Fighting ChampionshipBY SCOOP MCTROLLBefore reading any further, please read our disclaimer first.In the January of
2001, the ailing reality fighting contest known as
The Ultimate Fighting Championship, was purchased from its founder, the
SEG CORPORATION by
ZUFFA LLC. Three men,
Frank Fertitta III, his younger brother
Lorenzo Fertitta and their
brother in law, the low profile but nonetheless powerful,
Blake Sartini, are the owners of
ZUFFA LLC.
Lorenzo (Far left) and Frank III (Far right) with a friend.The
Fertitta brothers
Frank III and
Lorenzo, take the limelight in this
partnership and have recently become known to millions of people through the reality television show
'American Casino'. As the
CEO and
President respectively, of the
Station Casinos Empire, they appear to be amiable and successful young businessmen.
Las Vegas residents may know of Frank III through his involvement in many charities and community projects, including Catholic Charities, Opportunity Village and the Las Vegas Chapter of the I Have A Dream Foundation. They may know of
Lorenzo Fertitta from his time on the board of the
Nevada State Athletic Commission, or as the chairman of the
Nevada Resort Association. The two millionare brothers donate
hundreds of thousands of dollars per year to the
Republican Party and they are an integral part of the
Las Vegas A-list social scene. Many people have wondered just
how they came to be so
successful at such relatively young ages and where they came from. Our in depth report
'The Z-Files' will explore these issues and attempt to throw some light on the
history of the
family behind
The Ultimate Fighting Championship. I hope you enjoy reading
The Z-Files; it is the result of several months of research.
Part 1
It is
1993 in
Galveston, Texas and a relative to the
Fertittas, 89 year old
Vic Maceo has just shown how business is done in his family. The aging alleged
mobster had walked into the
Galveston Post Office, pulled out a
.38 calibre revolver and started
firing at postal worker
Pete Miller, whom
Maceo believed owed him money.
Maceo's aim was a little off since his hey day but he still managed to hit
Miller in the right arm,
shattering the bones and bringing him to the ground, wincing in
pain.
When the
Maceos and the
Fertittas ruled the town a few decades prior, this was the way disputes were settled in
Galveston, Texas. In this case
Vic Maceo had sold a house to
Pete Miller for
$45,000 in 1968 and when Miller sold it in 1991, he sold it for
$180,000. Naturally Vic felt that some of the profit should have been his.
Miller had once worked as a busboy at the
Maceo-Fertitta controlled
illegal casino known as
'The Balinese Room' and
Vic C. Mateo, who was also known as 'Little Vic' to distinguish him from his cousin
Vic A. 'Gigolo' Maceo, could not cope with the fact that a busboy had seemingly gotten the better of him.
As
Vic Maceo attempted to make his escape in his sports car,
police apprehended him. He gave himself up willingly and when approached by the police, he said in a defiant and firm voice,
"When you look a guy in the eye and tell him he owes you forty grand and he tells you, 'Let me get the file,' you know that the son of a bitch is lying." As the police slapped
handcuffs on him he retorted with
"You don't handcuff a gentleman in this town!" Such was the power that the
Maceo and
Ferttita gang once wielded in
Galveston
Fertitta In-Law 'Big' Sam Maceo, The 'Barber of Galveston'It all began in the early 20th century when two
Sicilian barbers arrived in
Galveston from
Sicily via
Louisiana.
Rose and
Sam Maceo were soon to build an
illegal gambling empire from simple
bootlegging roots and become known as
Papa Rose and
Big Sam. Along with their relatives the
Fertitta family, they would control the black economy, the
organised crime and the politics of
Galveston for many years. One of their more well known
illegal casinos was
'The Balinese Room' but by the mid 1930's, and the time that
prohibition ended, they had built up an entire city block of
illegal casinos and
gambling dens in
Galveston. Many people feel that they created the
Vegas format before
Vegas ever existed.
Sam Maceo organized for all the big name singers and bands of the time to appear at his casinos, including
Frank Sinatra.
The Balinese Room in Galveston Texas.
A gaming chip from the illegal casinoThe
Maceo-Fertitta gang was responsible for funding many things in the Galveston community and despite obvious connections to the
New Orleans mob; no one dared to complain about the criminal benefactors of the town. In fact those that did complain usually ended up sleeping with the fishes, according to local legend.
The
Maceo-Fertitta gang wielded great power and most of the other mobsters knew better than to tread on their turf. The Chicago crime czar
Al Capone had heard about the lucrative gambling and bootleg empire that the
Maceos and
Fertittas had built in
Galveston and he wanted some of that action. He planned to at first become a partner with them and then muscle them out of the picture once he had his hooks firmly embedded.
Al Capone sent his main man
Frank Nitti to
Galveston to intimidate the
Maceos into allowing
Capone to
"invest" in their businesses. The
Maceos received word of
Nitti's impending arrival and they decided that they would flat-out refuse any offers from
Nitti on behalf of
Capone to take a piece of their
illegal gambling pie.
They decided to call on the skills of the most
ruthless member of their family's gang, Maceo In-Law,
Anthony Fertitta. Nitti arrived in town and was introduced to the
Maceos and to
Anthony Fertitta, Fertitta told
Nitti that they needed to talk and he took
Nitti for a drive in his car. The two men were
gone for
several hours and it is not clear what events took place during that time. All that is known is that
Nitti was dropped at the
city limits very late that evening, he appeared to be shaken but alive and well. No one knows what took place during the car ride but when
Nitti made it back to
Chicago, he told
Capone that the
Fertittas were no pushovers and it would require an all out
war to move in on their territory.
Capone never pursued it any further.
Rose Maceo was suspected of many
gangland killings during the 1930's. Including his first wife and her lover, but no Maceo was ever convicted of a felony.
Al Capone came off second best when he tried to muscle in on the Fertittas.Sam Maceo, was the brain behind the Maceo-Fertitta empire and he was directly under the control of
New Orleans mob boss
Carlos Marcello, who later would be linked to the
assassination of JFK. Sam also helped the pioneer Vegas hotelier,
Moe Dalitz to get a gaming licence for The
Desert Inn Las Vegas's
first casino, not very long before his
death.
Papa Rose and
Big Sam had both passed away by the 1950's and many of the remaining
Maceo's and the dealers who worked in their
illegal casinos moved out to
Las Vegas.
The Galveston gambling empire was under the control of mob boss Carlos Marcello, who would later be implicated in the JFK assassination.The
Fertittas, who were
related to the
Maceos by marriage, took
control of the
Galveston gaming empire, where they honed their skills in the
casino and hospitality fields, a legacy that would remain lucrative to the family for generations to come. Unlike the socially more adept
Maceos, who flaunted their success despite its illegality, the
Fertittas did not take too kindly to publicity.
The August 1955 edition of Time Magazine that exposed the Fertittas as thugs.In
1955, a
Time magazine LIFE reporter visited one of the
illegal Fertitta casinos in Galveston. In an article entitled
'Thugs vs The Press', he reported the following in the
August 1955 edition of
Time Magazine. " Many a mug on the edge of the big time thinks there is a formula for dealing with newsmen: intimidate or bribe. In Galveston, Texas, where vice and crime abounds, Gambling Boss Anthony Fertitta tried that formula in an effort to prevent LIFE from getting pictures of his illegal operations. It did not work.
After LIFE Photographer Joe Scherschel and Reporter Hank Suydam took pictures (with a concealed camera) in one of Fertitta's gambling houses, the boss and two henchmen followed the LIFE men to their hotel. Photographer Scherschel took his film upstairs while Reporter Suydam encountered Fertitta and his two strong-arm men in the lobby. Fertitta demanded an explanation of what Suydam and Scherschel had been doing, suddenly smashed Suydam in the face. By the time Suydam had picked himself off the floor, Fertitta had switched tactics, tried to stuff a $20 bill into the reporter's pocket.
Last week, just before LIFE published "Wide-Open Galveston Mocks Texas Laws," Gambling Boss Fertitta was tried for simple assault in the Galveston justice court. After Fertitta pleaded "not guilty" and then refused to take the stand, Justice J. L. McKenna found Fertitta guilty, gave him the maximum punishment: a $25 fine. The conviction was much more important than the small fine. In Galveston, where gang leaders like Fertitta have long tried to pose as legitimate businessmen, the criminal conviction reported on Page One of Texas newspapers helped to expose these "legitimate businessmen" for the thugs they are."Partially in light of the adverse publicity that they began to attract and partially due to the more
conservative political climate of the mid to late 1950's, the Galveston
gambling empire began to slowly
crumble. Many of the
Fertittas also began to migrate to Las Vegas and it all finally came to a crashing halt in Galveston in
1957 when the
Attorney General Will
Wilson, along with the
Texas Rangers, smashed the
Fertitta's illegal gambling racket. The
glory days for the
Maceos and
Fertittas were
over in Texas, for the moment at least.
With
no choice but to shut up shop and leave town, a mass exodus took place. With the vast experience the owners and employees had gained in Galveston by running or working in the biggest chain of
illegal casinos and live entertainment restaurants in the country,
Las Vegas seemed to be the natural place to migrate. A pilgrimage from Galveston to Vegas of
mobsters, card dealers, croupiers,
hores and gamblers began. In those days
Vegas was not as heavily regulated as it is today and offered the lure of an
easy buck to such
dregs of society.
In 1960, a 21-year-old man named
Frank Fertitta Jr would arrive in
Las Vegas and find work at a
Casino as a
bellboy. With him are his wife and newborn son,
Frank III.
The fun for him, was just beginning.
(That was Part 1 of Scoop McTroll's new series 'The Z-Files'. Watch this page for part 2, coming to FS 24-7 soon.)
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