[thumb:481:l] Anthony Civella, the head of the mafia in Kansas City, has died. Nicknamed Tony Ripe, the mobster was 75. He became the city crime boss when his father, Carl Civella, was jailed in 1984.

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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.

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Nick’s nephew Anthony Civella, another Black Book member.

Anthony Thomas Civella, who is considered the boss of the Kansas City organized crime family, has a criminal history dating back to 1952. He was convicted in 1984 for skimming from Nevada casinos. He also has convictions for bookmaking, wire fraud and illegally selling pharmaceuticals. His father and uncle were also excluded persons. Civella has also been banned from entering Missouri gaming establishments. He currently resides in the Kansas City area.

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The infamous Nevada Gaming Commission Black Book

During 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.

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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.