Hollywood’s ‘Bugsy’ is entertaining but plays fast and loose with the facts

In the 1991 movie Bugsy, Warren Beatty, portraying mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, stands in the desert near Highway 91 south…


Las Vegas Mob stories attract Hollywood interest

Of the many Mob movies and television shows now in the works, several are focused on underworld figures who had…


Were Richard Nixon’s alleged ties to organized crime real or mere speculation?

In the final days before the 1968 presidential election, the so-called “war on crime” was the top domestic issue of…


The rise of Castro and the fall of the Havana Mob

When Fidel Castro, his brother Raul, Che Guevara and 79 other Cuban rebels piled into the 43-foot yacht Granma on…


Flamingo Postcard

Who killed Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel?

To this day no one knows who killed Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel. The shooting in Southern California happened on June, 20,…


Wilkerson’s idea, Bugsy’s baby

On the evening of December 26, 1946, it seemed that Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel had done almost everything right for the…


Fidel Castro derailed Mob’s plans in Cuba

This is the first of three blogs on the death of Fidel Castro. Part two looks at Mob ties to…


The Havana conference

Mob meetings are tricky events to organize. Travel logistics aside, the conflicting personalities, territorial beefs, and ever-present threat of law…


The Havana Mob during the 1950s

Havana, Cuba, served as a virtual haven for organized crime in the 1950s. After former Cuban President Fulgencio Batista staged…


Expert: Evolving relations with Cuba could return gambling to the island

Once upon a time, there were two favorite places for Americans to legally gamble: Nevada and Cuba. And the Mob…