LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Former Chicago and Las Vegas mobster Frank Cullotta has died at the age of 81.
His death was announced on his official YouTube channel Coffee With Cullotta. He died early Thursday.
According to the video, Cullotta had been in the hospital for a few weeks before his death and was battling COVID-19.
Las Vegas businessman Adam Flowers told CNN that he believes that he gave Cullotta COVID-19 as a presymptomatic carrier.
Cullotta had a long career in the mob.
In 1962, he killed two men named William McCarthy and James Miraglia (he later confessed). In 1968, he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to prison for 8 years.
Cullotta moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in 1979 to join fellow mafia member and boyhood pal Tony Spilotro. He became part of the Hole in the Wall Gang in Las Vegas, which was known for its penchant of drilling or gaining entry to homes and buildings by drilling through the exterior walls and ceilings of the locations they burglarized..
Cullotta became a government witness against the gang in 1982. In 1983, Cullotta admitted that he was involved in over 300 crimes, including four murders, perjury, robberies and burglaries.
Cullotta co-authored two books about his life. “Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, Government Witness” came out in 2007 and "The Rise and Fall of a ‘Casino’ Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story Through A Hitman’s Eyes” was published in 2017.
He also consulted on the movie "Casino," began giving mob tours in the city of Las Vegas, and even worked with the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas.
Thursday, Geoff Schumacher, of the Mob Museum, also talked to 13 Action News about Cullotta. The interview can be viewed below:
