Blog

Joey Cusumano, a close associate of Tony Spilotro and survivor of a hit attempt, dies at age 90

Longtime Las Vegas mobster Joey Cusumano was close with Tony Spilotro and Oscar Goodman. Left to right: Oscar Goodman, Tony Spilotro, Chris Petti, Joey Cusumano, and Nick DePento. The Mob Museum Collection
October 22, 2026

Joseph “Joey” Cusumano, a close associate of Chicago Outfit enforcer Tony Spilotro who was convicted of labor racketeering and banned from entering Nevada’s casinos, has died in Las Vegas. He was 90. Cusumano battled a number of medical challenges for several years before his passing Tuesday afternoon. Although law enforcement saw Cusumano as a hardened mobster, his charm and generosity earned him many friends from all walks of life, including in Hollywood, where he served as a line producer for the Francis Ford Coppola movie The Cotton Club. Oscar Goodman, the defense attorney turned Las Vegas mayor who represented Cusumano, tells a story reflecting ...

Learn More
Peter Gerace Jr., nephew of alleged Buffalo Mob boss Joseph Todaro Jr., is at the center of a drug trafficking case linked to organized crime. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in May and faces another trial in November. Broward County Sheriff’s Department

Recent criminal cases show the Buffalo Mafia never really disappeared

Federal prosecutors reveal how Magaddino crime family endured under the Todaro clan

Learn More
On June 17, 1979, Vic Weiss’ body was discovered in the trunk of his Rolls-Royce in North Hollywood, a suspected Mob hit. Associated Press

Jerry Tarkanian’s Lakers coaching contract vanished after a suspected Mob hit

The 1979 murder of Vic Weiss may have cost Jerry Tarkanian the Lakers job. Explore the Mob ties, Tony Spilotro’s alleged role and the enduring cold case.

Learn More

Mobbed-up soccer hooligans create chaos in southern Europe

This summer, all eyes are on North America as Canada, Mexico, and the United States host the 2026 World Cup….

Learn More
MS-13 member Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, left, listens to an interpreter through headphones next to his attorney during his murder trial in Las Vegas. The Mob Museum Collection

MS-13’s history of brutality led to killing spree in Las Vegas

At the end of 2017, Richie Gaudio was launching fireworks in his East Las Vegas driveway to ring in the…

Learn More

Piracy became patriotism during the American Revolution

In late 1775, the Thirteen Colonies were in trouble. The British Parliament had enacted the Prohibitory Act in response to…

Learn More
Although Mafia boss Joe Colombo survived the June 28, 1971, shooting, it left him paralyzed and comatose until he died seven years later. Corbis

Did Gregory Scarpa Sr. mastermind the attempted assassination of Joe Colombo?

On June 28, 1971, 55 years ago, Mafia boss Joe Colombo’s march in Manhattan’s Columbus Circle would be his last….

Learn More
In the upcoming film By Any Means, actor Mark Wahlberg wears facial prosthetics to transform into the spitting image of Colombo crime family capo Gregory Scarpa Sr. Paramount Pictures

Mark Wahlberg portrays Mafia killer Gregory Scarpa Sr. in ‘By Any Means’

During the summer of 1964, New York City mobster Gregory Scarpa Sr. traveled south to rural Mississippi and, using violent scare…

Learn More
  • Archives