Las Vegas Mobster John Spilotro’s Former Home on the Market

Posted on: November 29, 2023, 08:18h. 

Last updated on: November 29, 2023, 10:03h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Want to own a slice of Mob history? The former home of Las Vegas mobster John Spilotro is up for sale. Spilotro was the lesser-known brother of vicious Mafia enforcer Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, who inspired Joe Pesci’s character in the movie Casino.

John Spilotro, Tony Spilotro, Las Vegas
Swimming with the fishes? John Spilotro’s former home boasts a 2,392 square-foot pool with a zip line, pictured. (Image: Kyle Simmons/The Simmons Team)

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom property at 3179 Desmond Avenue, Las Vegas, is on the market for $550K. It features a “massive” rear yard with a 2,392 square-foot pool with a zip line, plus a rock-climbing wall and a skydeck loft net, according to the listing.

Spilotro owned the house with his wife, Arlene, from 1975 to 2002. Some of those outdoor amenities were added later, so if you’re imagining a zip-lining, rock-climbing mobster, you’re probably off the mark.

Profit-Skimming

Like his more infamous brother, Spilotro moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in the 1970s. Tony Spilotro, a Chicago Outfit capo, was sent to the city to oversee profit skimming operations at the Outfit’s four Nevada casinos, The Stardust, The Fremont, The Hacienda, and The Marina.

“[John and Arlene] bought this home when it was prime real estate and at the height of their new entrance of coming into money,” listing agent Kyle Simmons told The Las Vegas Review-Journal. “They literally lived through and mourned their two brothers’ deaths while living at this house. Local neighbors in the past who still remember the old days recall the stories of mobsters coming over to the home,” Simmons added.

John was one of Tony’s four brothers and a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang. This was a group of robbers and killers, led by “The Ant,” who earned their name because of a penchant for drilling through exterior walls to gain entry to properties.

Tony’s “extra-curricular activities” with the gang may have hastened his demise. He and another brother, Michael, disappeared on June 14, 1986.

A month later, they were found buried together in an Indiana cornfield. They had been stripped to their underwear and beaten to death.

Federal Charges

Just months earlier, both John and Tony had been tried on federal racketeering charges, but the prosecution fell apart after the court ruled crucial evidence couldn’t be submitted. That’s because a search warrant used to obtain the evidence failed to specify the criminal conduct of which the men were suspected.

All of the Spilotro brothers became mobsters, bar one. Dr. Pasquale “Patrick” Spilotro was a dentist and an upstanding member of the community who later made it his life’s mission to find out who had murdered his brothers. In 2009, Chicago Mob boss James “Little Jimmy” Marcello was convicted of the crime.

It’s not clear whether John, who would now be in his eighties, is still alive.