Joseph Vincent Cusumano, identified by the FBI and Metropolitan Police Department as a trusted associate of Chicago Mob overseer Anthony Spilotro, died Tuesday at age 90, according to an online obituary. Born in New York City on Nov. 8, 1935, Cusumano spent his time in Las Vegas as Spilotro's closest associate during the mob's heyday in the city.
Unlike Spilotro, who was murdered and buried in an Indiana cornfield, Cusumano survived the mob's bloody downfall. He was the target of a 1990 assassination attempt and carried two bullets in his shoulders, but his name was seldom publicly connected to the organization's deadliest activities. He was convicted on a racketeering charge in 1987 and entered into Nevada's Black Book in 1990, banning him from casinos.
Former Mayor Oscar Goodman, who represented Cusumano during the Black Book hearings, called the proceedings a "kangaroo court." In a 2012 Review-Journal column, John L. Smith described Cusumano as "the luckiest man in Las Vegas" for living long enough to enjoy a quiet retirement. "He experienced the mob's Vegas heyday, survived its bloody downfall and, against the odds, came out on the other side," Smith wrote.
In his later years, Cusumano transformed into a pop culture figure, hobnobbing with celebrities such as filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and author Nicholas Pileggi. He became a movie producer and has a filet mignon named after him at the Las Vegas steakhouse owned by Goodman. "I really, truly loved Tony," Cusumano told Smith in 2012 of Spilotro, while acknowledging his friend's deadly mean streak.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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