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JOHN L. SMITH: A century old, the FBI changed our desert den of sin forever

The FBI has had a long fascination with Las Vegas.

Years before the valley's population was large enough to justify it, the bureau had Sin City staked out. The federal law enforcement agency tried to keep an eye on the phenomenal flow of cash and characters through the casino subculture.


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  • Whether you're a gambler or a G-man, Las Vegas has always been in the middle of the action.

    Outside Chicago and New York, I'll wager no American city has been changed more by the FBI than Las Vegas. I'd even argue the Las Vegas we know today wouldn't exist without the bureau's occasionally controversial efforts.

    The FBI marks its 100th anniversary on Saturday. Offices across the country have been celebrating in the bureau's typically square fashion with speeches from special agents in charge and respectful proclamations from local, state, and federal politicians. During the recent local celebration, Las Vegas FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Martinez gave the crowd a lesson in bureau history that skipped across the decades like a stone across water. Although he might have orated for hours on some of the intriguing cases the office has investigated, he focused on an example most Americans know best as depicted by director Martin Scorsese and author Nicholas Pileggi -- the bloody story of Anthony Spilotro and Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and the mob's hidden ownership of the Stardust, Tropicana, and other casinos.

    Casino skimming investigations, conducted in at times testy conjunction with Metro police and the state Gaming Control Board, not only identified organized crime's hidden ownership in Strip gambling resorts, but eventually crushed the leadership of Midwestern mob families.

    In his own street savvy way, Spilotro soldier-turned-government witness Frank Cullotta captured the essence of the traditional mob's grand misstep in Pileggi's "Casino" when he said, "It should have been paradise and we (expletive) it all up."

    The mob lost paradise thanks to the efforts of the FBI and others who doggedly pursued the skim. Cleaning up the casino business helped make the corporate gambling era possible.

    As Las Vegas has evolved, so has the FBI. What was once a paradise for traditional wiseguys now attracts organized crime with an international flavor. After Sept. 11, the FBI has focused its resources on homeland security and anti-terrorism intelligence gathering.

    "We don't want to wait for the next terrorist strike," Martinez said.

    His simple sentence masks a complex, multi-agency approach to the issue.

    That spirit of cooperation is without precedent. The FBI has long guarded its image as law enforcement's elite, lead dog. For decades the local office and Metro regarded each other with suspicion and resentment. Agents and detectives occasionally managed to set aside their differences, but often as not they butted heads.

    "Sharing is just a part of our nature now," Martinez said. "It's a tribute to all our partners that sharing works as well as it does."

    His statement would have been laughable if spoken just a decade ago. Now, the Joint Terrorism Task Force is one of numerous multi-agency approaches to crime fighting. Whether it's human trafficking, money laundering, or mortgage fraud, there's strength in numbers.

    As I scanned the crowd, I noticed several former agents who had returned to take part in the program. There was Dennis Arnoldy, who helped turn mob hoodlum Cullotta into a federal witness against Spilotro. There was Robert Rea, the background specialist, and Bill Scobie, who logged three decades for the bureau.

    And there was 30-year FBI veteran Terry Hulse, who recalled his 13 years in Las Vegas as more challenging than any of the five larger cities where he worked cases.

    "What I liked about Las Vegas at the time is that it was a very small-sized office, but we had big-office casework," Hulse said.

    One of his last cases was the investigation of political corruption inside Clark County government that resulted in prison sentences for four former commissioners.

    For Martinez, Las Vegas offers an elusive allure for tourists and criminals.

    "Las Vegas is a place where people think they can come and interact with some anonymity, and bad guys think that as well," he said.

    Through the years the FBI has seen to it that what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas, and in doing so has changed our notorious Sodom on a sea of sand forever.

    John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.

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    nvkorruption wrote on July 24, 2008 04:28 PM: Fred,

    When you read between the lines, these folks that you mention know they are under a microscope just by the way some of the rulings are coming out of the Supremes.

    The public just needs to keep up the pressure. I have been real busy on some of this.

    Between contractors, labor, and hook ups...there is a lot that goes out the back door that is not a FBI matter.

    The the money and paper trail that they are watching.


    Fred Frazzetta wrote on July 24, 2008 02:44 PM: Harrah's illegal remodels are a perfect example of how corrupt our system is in this city/state. How else can you explain the fact that for over a decade they have tried to make their guests & employees "human shiskabobs?" Think I am kidding? The rooms were not fit to be rented out, and that is according to both the Clark County Building & Fire Departments' individual investigation reports, which were submitted to the DA's Office. Mind you the DA's office provided not even one investigator to help either the Fire Department or Building Department. OJ Simpson's situation involved under 10 people - Harrah's situation involved millions, yet the DA David Rogers has put 200% effort into OJ's case & next to zero for Harrah's. Pretty selective justice, kind of screwy if you ask me, but I must not forget that this is Vegas.

    Harrah's is still fixing rooms at their hotels, and this started last October! Jan Jones said that it was isolated & nothing to worry about...hey wasn't she the Mayor at one time? Can you say thank you job because she did such a good job for Harrah's when she was in office - that is what the local reporters call it...I am just repeating what I was told.

    I wonder if the FBI or IRS has ever looked at what may have been taken out the backdoor at Harrah's properties. I am pretty sure that if the right people are asked by either agency that there will be plenty to investigate - actually I am 100% positive that this would be the case.

    But of course it is not just Harrah's: what about NV OSHA, NV Gaming Commission, NV Contractors Board, NV Medical Board, CC Commissioners, LV Council, AG's Office, Gov. Gibbons, Senator Reid, and many more...


    nvkorruption wrote on July 24, 2008 10:53 AM: Dennis Arnoldy has done work for the Nevada Judicial Discipline Commission. His investigations usually turn up nothing that will hurt a judge.

    He knows things about Nevada public corruption.

    The terrorism issue touches on public corruption as stated on the FBI web site.

    Although there are under cover investigations of elected official's activities most likely, he (Arnoldy)wont be an asset in helping end public corruption in Nevada or he would have come forward long ago.


    VJ wrote on July 24, 2008 06:14 AM: REMEMBER THE LINE FROM THE GODFATHER..

    "YOU CAN STEAL MORE WITH A BRIEFCASE..THEN YOU CAN WITH A GUN!"


    milan wrote on July 23, 2008 09:39 AM: COME ON THE F.B.I COULDN'T FIND A WOUNDED ELEPHANT IN 6FT OF WHITE SNOW.IF IT WASN'T FOR THE STOOL PIGEONS THAT RAT OUT AND THE HIGH TECH HEARING DEVISES THEY WOULD NEVER CATCH ANYONE.

    AS FOR LAS VEGAS OF OLD WHEN THE OUTFIT RAN THE TOWN IT WAS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK. THE MOB HAD CLASS, THE CORPORATIONS HAVE CONTEMPT FOR BOTH THEIR EMPLOYES AND CUSTOMERS.


    Jon H. wrote on July 23, 2008 09:06 AM: Bobby wrote:

    “The FBI got rid of the small criminals and made room for the MEGA criminals (CORPORATIONS) that have paid off local government workers to get everything they needed to make this state 10X more CORRUPT than it was with the small mafias.

    The story is just another piece of media sponsored PROPAGANDA. This town was 20X better 30 years ago!!!!!!”

    Bobby you are on to something; let me add that an accurate definition:

    Government is the monopoly on the use of force, in a geographic area.

    Hence, the Mafia was working the government’s turf, and the government took it back. All the rackets continue, the extortion, the control, the government just calls it a license or a tax. The government also runs a very effective protection racket . . . its name is economic fascism. That folks is what our government is all about in a nutshell, money and power.


    Jon H. wrote on July 23, 2008 08:53 AM: lp wrote: “Its not the FBI that screwed up Las Vegas. Its the everyday street cop and judge that is destroying sin city. What sin? Ever since we relocated here, the only sin we see is cops killing pregnant women and mothers in frontof children. Its the cops that are the Domestic Terrorist. Not the FBI.”

    Vegas wrote: “C'mon lp, give it a rest. Cops killing people? Sure, when those people are threatening others. If these "...pregnant woman and mothers ..." are so innocent, why are they putting others at risk? And, why, don't they stop, and, start listening to the cops around them. Oh, that's right. It's not their responsibility to act civilized. It's always the cop's fault for their behavior. Jeeze, lp, start acting like a responsible adult.”

    Interesting comment Vegas, but let me add a thought. The day that we as a society find the death of a person by the police acceptable, regardless of the circumstances, surrounding that officer involved death is the day I will give up on the moral and ethical chances for our society to survive. I find it interesting that we hold our citizens to a higher standard than our police. Considering all the weapons and self defense training we provide our police, coupled with the authority that is given to the police, should we not hold our police to a higher standard than we hold our common citizen?


    Jon H. wrote on July 23, 2008 08:51 AM: lp wrote: “Its not the FBI that screwed up Las Vegas. Its the everyday street cop and judge that is destroying sin city. What sin? Ever since we relocated here, the only sin we see is cops killing pregnant women and mothers in frontof children. Its the cops that are the Domestic Terrorist. Not the FBI.”

    Vegas wrote: “C'mon lp, give it a rest. Cops killing people? Sure, when those people are threatening others. If these "...pregnant woman and mothers ..." are so innocent, why are they putting others at risk? And, why, don't they stop, and, start listening to the cops around them. Oh, that's right. It's not their responsibility to act civilized. It's always the cop's fault for their behavior. Jeeze, lp, start acting like a responsible adult.”

    Interesting comment Vegas, but let me add a thought. The day that we as a society find the death of a person by the police acceptable, regardless of the circumstances, surrounding that officer involved death is the day I will give up on the moral and ethical chances for our society to survive. I find it interesting that we hold our citizens to a higher standard than our police. Considering all the weapons and self defense training we provide our police, coupled with the authority that is given to the police, should we not hold our police to a higher standard than we hold our common citizen?


    Bobby wrote on July 23, 2008 08:28 AM: The FBI got rid of the small criminals and made room for the MEGA criminals (CORPORATIONS) that have paid off local government workers to get everything they needed to make this state 10X more CORRUPT than it was with the small mafias.

    The story is just another piece of media sponsored PROPAGANDA. This town was 20X better 30 years ago!!!!!!


    don't forget wrote on July 23, 2008 08:23 AM: The law firms that collude with friendly judges. The feds generally don't get involved in civil matters. The mob uses civil matters to do their best work. Got to love those fraudulent court orders that are pure gold. The only oversite is appointed to protect the operation.


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