Frank John Cullotta (December 14, 1938 – August 20, 2020) was an American

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

in the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, ...

and a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang burglary ring in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

with friend and mobster

Tony Spilotro Anthony John Spilotro (May 19, 1938 – June 14, 1986), nicknamed "Tony the Ant", was an American mobster and high ranking member for the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas during the 1970s and '80s. Spilotro managed the Outfit's illegal casino profits ...

. After his arrest in 1982, he became a government witness and entered the

witness protection program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

. Cullotta later became an author and a tour guide. He died on August 20, 2020, from complications related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Early years

Cullotta was born on December 14, 1938, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, to Josephine Montedore and Joseph Raymond Cullotta. Cullotta's father was also a criminal, although not connected with the

. Cullotta dropped out of

Steinmetz High School Steinmetz College Prep (also known as Steinmetz High School or Steinmetz Academic Centre) is a public 4–year high school located in the Belmont Cragin community area on the Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois. Steinmetz is a part of the Chicag ...

in the ninth grade, and started a criminal career together with boyhood friend

, engaging in theft, burglary, and murder. In 1962, Cullotta non-directly participated in the killings of William McCarthy and James Miraglia, who were both found dead in the trunk of a car on May 14, 1962. McCarthy's head had been placed in a

vise A vise or vice (British English) is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever. A vise grip is n ...

and his throat slashed, while Miraglia was strangled. In 1968, Cullotta was convicted of burglary and sentenced to eight years in prison. In 1972, he was paroled by the state, but was transferred to

Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute The Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute (FCC Terre Haute) is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Indiana; much of the complex grounds is in Terre Haute, though portions are in unincorporated Vigo County. It is operate ...

to serve the federal portion of his sentence. After six months, he was transferred to a

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

, ultimately being released in 1974.

Hole in the Wall Gang

In early 1979, Cullotta moved to

, Nevada to join Spilotro, who had already been there since 1971, and his group of experienced thieves, safecrackers, and killers. The burglary crew became known in the media as the 'Hole in the Wall Gang' because of its penchant and skill for gaining entry to homes and buildings by drilling through the exterior walls and ceilings of the locations they burgled. On October 10, 1979, on Tony Spilotro's orders, Cullotta killed his former friend and grand jury witness Sherwin "Jerry" Lisner in Las Vegas. Lisner was suspected of informing to a grand jury the details on a money exchange scam he was working on with Cullotta. When he became a federal witness, Cullotta admitted he had killed Lisner, on orders from Tony Spilotro. On July 4, 1981, the Hole in the Wall Gang attempted to burglarize Bertha's Gifts & Home Furnishings, a high end store, on East

Sahara Avenue Sahara Avenue is a major east-west roadway in the Las Vegas Valley. The former State Route 589 (SR 589) comprised a large portion of the street. The roadway is named after the Sahara Hotel and Casino, which itself is named after the Sahara ...

in Las Vegas. The robbery was a bust, as the FBI and the Las Vegas Metro police had a inside informer named Sal Romano in the gang. Much of the gang was arrested in and around Bertha's, including Cullotta, ex Metro officer Joe Blasko, Leo Guardino, Ernest Davino, Lawrence Neumann, and Wayne Matecki— each man was charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted

grand larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Engl ...

, and possession of burglary tools. In 1982, Frank Cullotta was imprisoned again, and was approached by the FBI with a

wiretap Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

of Spilotro talking with someone about "having to clean our dirty laundry", which Cullotta took as an insinuated contract on his life. Due to this, in July 1982, Cullotta finalized an agreement with the prosecutors. In September 1983, Spilotro was indicted for conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the Lisner murder, and released on $100,000 bail. At a trial in October 1983, Cullotta admitted that he was involved in over 300 crimes, including four murders, perjury, robberies and burglaries. He also testified that Tony Spilotro, his boss in Las Vegas, ordered him to make a telephone call that lured one of the 1962 murder victims, William McCarthy, to a fast food restaurant. Spilotro was acquitted later that year. Cullotta was given

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

for his previously uncharged crimes, but was sentenced to 10 years in prison, reduced to eight years after an outburst from Cullotta. He served two years at

Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego The Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego (MCC San Diego) is a United States federal administrative detention facility in California which holds male and female prisoners of all security levels. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons ...

, until he was paroled to the

in 1984, and placed on two years' probation. He spent two years under an assumed name in the program, moving around from time to time, including in Texas;

Estes Park, Colorado Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Cor ...

;

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

and

Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport is the second-largest city in Mississippi after the state capital, Jackson. Along with Biloxi, Gulfport is the co-county seat of Harrison County and the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolit ...

; and Mobile, Alabama.

Life after crime

Cullotta provided information for

Nicholas Pileggi Nicholas Pileggi (, ; born February 22, 1933) is an American author, producer and screenwriter. He wrote the non-fiction book '' Wiseguy'' and co-wrote the screenplay for ''Goodfellas'', its 1990 film adaptation, for which he received a nominati ...

's 1995 book '' Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas'', which

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

adapted into the 1995 film ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

''. Cullotta inspired the character Frank Marino (played by

Frank Vincent Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. During a five-decade career, Vincent often portrayed mobsters. He was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in ''Raging B ...

), served as a

technical advisor In film production, a technical advisor is someone who advises the director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a ...

for the film, and also played an on-screen role as a hitman. Cullotta co-authored two books with Dennis N. Griffin, ''Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, Government Witness'' (also with Dennis Arnoldy, 2007), and ''The Rise and Fall of a "Casino" Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story Through a Hitman's Eyes'' (2017), and was involved in the making of several documentaries. Cullotta worked as a

tour guide A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, religio ...

and a speaker for

The Mob Museum The Mob Museum, officially the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, is a history museum located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Opened on February 14, 2012, the Mob Museum is dedicated to featuring the artifacts ...

in Las Vegas. In January 2020, Cullotta started a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel called "Coffee with Cullotta".

Death

On August 20, 2020, Cullotta died at the age of 81 in a Las Vegas hospital from complications related to

and other medical issues, amid its pandemic in Nevada. His death was also announced on his YouTube channel, "Coffee with Cullotta".

References

External links

Youtube – Coffee with Cullotta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullotta, Frank 1938 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American criminals Chicago Outfit mobsters American people convicted of burglary Writers from Chicago American non-fiction crime writers American gangsters of Italian descent People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program Federal Bureau of Investigation informants American Mafia cooperating witnesses American writers of Italian descent Organized crime memoirists 21st-century American memoirists Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States American male non-fiction writers Tour guides Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Nevada American YouTubers