Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal (12 June 1929-13 October 2008) was a professional sports better, former Las Vegas casino executive, and Chicago Outfit associate.
Biography[]
Frank Rosenthal was born in Chicago, Illinois on 12 June 1929, and he learned sports betting in the bleachers of the Wrigley Field baseball park while he was young. He would often skip classes to attend sporting events, and he began to work for the Chicago Outfit in the mid-1950s. Rosenthal had an expert odds-making ability, and he ran the biggest illegal bookmaking office in the United States on behalf of the American Mafia. During the 1960s, he was a suspect in multiple business and car bombings in Miami, Florida, where he worked with the Mafia; in 1963, his only criminal conviction was pleading no contest to bribing a New York University player to shave points for a college basketball game in North Carolina.
Casino boss[]
Rosenthal in 1973
In 1973, Rosenthal was sent to run the Tangiers Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on behalf of the Chicago Outfit. He worked at the casino while his gambling license was still pending, and he doubled the casino's profits while working as its de facto boss. The Mafia sent his friend Anthony Spilotro and his brother Michael Spilotro, his best friend Frank Cullotta, and their crew to protect Rosenthal and the whole business. Rosenthal married hustler Geri McGee, but their relationship was complicated when she gave money to her former pimp Lester Diamond, and he also faced issues when Clark County Commissioner Pat Webb pulled his license application and forced him to have a license hearing in 1980, a hearing in which State Senator Harry Reid would reject the license thanks to Webb's connections. Rosenthal responded by appearing on television and accusing the government of corruption, and he refused to heed the Mafia's orders to go home due to his high publicity. Rosenthal later found out that his wife planned to run away to Europe with her pimp, and he refused to grant her a divorce. She later plotted with Spilotro (her other lover) to kill Rosenthal, but Spilotro refused. She was later arrested for aiding and abetting after stealing the cash from Rosenthal's safe deposit box, and many casino executives tied to the Mafia's skimming were arrested.
Back to the beginning[]
The casino empire crumbled as the casino bosses were arrested, and the Mafia decided to kill all of those tied to the skimming to avoid being in trouble. In 1983, the Mafia attempted to kill Rosenthal in a car bombing, but the mobsters failed. Rosenthal suspected that Spilotro was involved in the unsanctioned hit, and he tried to confront Spilotro, only to find out that the Mafia had whacked him. Rosenthal decided to move to San Diego to work as a sports handicapper once more, heading right back to where he had started in his criminal career. He died in Miami Beach in 2008 at the age of 79 from a heart attack.