Las Vegas Mobster John Spilotro, Brother of Tony “The Ant,” Dies at 83
Posted on: July 9, 2025, 05:54h.
Last updated on: July 9, 2025, 05:55h.
- Quietest Spilotro brother outlived his infamous Mafia siblings
- Co-managed front for Hole in the Wall Gang thefts
- Avoided violent fate of brothers, died peacefully at 83
John Spilotro, the last surviving – and quietest – of a group of siblings who oversaw the Chicago Outfit’s Las Vegas operations in the 1970s and early 1980s has died at the age of 83, according to The Gangster Report.
Most notorious of his brothers was Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, an Outfit capo who in 1971 was dispatched to Las Vegas to look after the syndicate’s interests in the city, especially the casino skim at Mob-linked venues, Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina. Tony’s criminal career inspired the Joe Pesci character in Martin Scorsese’s Casino.
Unlike his brothers Tony and Michael, who met violent ends in the 1980s, John kept a lower profile but was not entirely on the straight and narrow, according to federal court records. He was described by The Gangster Report as a “top lieutenant” for Tony Spilotro in Las Vegas.
‘Mad Sam’
Born into a large Italian American family on Chicago’s West Side, John was one of six Spilotro brothers. All but one, Pasquale “Pat” Spilotro, who made an honest living as a dentist, were involved in criminal activity.
The brothers grew up in their parents’ mob-entangled restaurant, “Patsy’s,” on the West Side, which was frequented by infamous mobsters like longtime Outfit boss Sam Giancana, his successor, Jackie “The Lackey” Cerone, syndicate “fixer” Gus Alex, and Frank “The Enforcer” Nitti, a former bodyguard of Al Capone.
In the early 1960s, Tony joined Sam “Mad Sam” DeStefano’s crew. DeStefano was the Outfit’s foremost loan shark, a sociopath who took delight in torturing his debtors to death – including by crushing their skulls in a vise.
Tony was taking notes and made a name for himself as a vicious enforcer, which caught the eye of the Outfit’s top brass. When DeStefano’s antics became too much for the syndicate, Tony was tasked with snuffing him out, which he performed with ruthless efficiency, according to accounts based on law enforcement investigations.
The Vegas Years
When Tony went to Las Vegas, John and Michael followed as part of his inner circle. Not content with skimming funds from casinos for his Chicago paymasters, Tony indulged in extra-curricular criminal activities, such as the “Hole in the Wall Gang,” an infamous burglary operation that included his two brothers.
The gang got its name from its signature method of entry – literally smashing or drilling through walls and ceilings to avoid alarms and bypass security systems.
The Hole in the Wall Gang operated out of the Gold Rush Ltd. jewelry store in the Meadows Mall, which served as a front and laundering outlet, co-managed by John. The store bought and resold stolen goods, primarily high-end jewelry, acting as a clearinghouse for the proceeds of the crew’s heists.
John’s most serious brush with the law came in the mid-1980s when he was charged in a federal racketeering case tied to Outfit activities in Las Vegas. However, a U.S. appeals court found that the FBI’s search warrants had been overly broad, leading to the suppression of key evidence. John was acquitted.
Just months later, in June 1986, Tony and Michael were strangled to death and left in an Indiana cornfield, allegedly for drawing too much attention to the Outfit’s operations.
John lived quietly in Las Vegas for his remaining years.
Last Comment ( 1 )
The Mafia is dead.