Frank John Cullotta was an American mobster in the Chicago Outfit and a member of the Hole in the Wall Gang burglary ring in Las Vegas with friend and mobster Tony Spilotro.
20 Facts About Frank Cullotta
2.
Frank Cullotta died on August 20,2020, from complications related to COVID-19.
3.
Frank Cullotta's father was a criminal, although not connected with the Chicago Outfit.
4.
Frank Cullotta dropped out of Steinmetz High School in the ninth grade, and started a criminal career together with boyhood friend Tony Spilotro, engaging in theft, burglary, and murder.
5.
In 1962, Frank Cullotta indirectly 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.
6.
In 1968, Frank Cullotta was convicted of burglary and sentenced to eight years in prison.
7.
In early 1979, Frank Cullotta moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to join Spilotro, who had already been there since 1971, and his group of experienced thieves, safecrackers, and killers.
8.
On October 10,1979, on Tony Spilotro's orders, Frank Cullotta killed his former friend and grand jury witness Sherwin "Jerry" Lisner in Las Vegas.
9.
When he became a federal witness, Frank Cullotta admitted he had killed Lisner, on orders from Tony Spilotro.
10.
In 1982, Frank Cullotta was imprisoned again, and was approached by the FBI with a wiretap of Spilotro talking with someone about "having to clean our dirty laundry", which Cullotta took as an insinuated contract on his life.
11.
At a trial in October 1983, Frank Cullotta admitted that he was involved in over 300 crimes, including four murders, perjury, robberies and burglaries.
12.
Frank Cullotta 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.
13.
Frank Cullotta was given immunity for his previously uncharged crimes, but was sentenced to 10 years in prison, reduced to eight years after an outburst from Frank Cullotta.
14.
Frank Cullotta served two years at Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego, until he was paroled to the witness protection program in 1984, and placed on two years' probation.
15.
Frank Cullotta spent two years under an assumed name in the program, moving around from time to time, including in Texas; Estes Park, Colorado; Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi; and Mobile, Alabama.
16.
Frank Cullotta provided information for Nicholas Pileggi's 1995 book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, which Martin Scorsese adapted into the 1995 film Casino.
17.
Cullotta inspired the character Frank Marino, served as a technical advisor for the film, and played an on-screen role as a hitman.
18.
Frank Cullotta worked as a tour guide and a speaker for The Mob Museum in Las Vegas.
19.
In January 2020, Frank Cullotta started a YouTube channel called "Coffee with Frank Cullotta".
20.
Frank Cullotta's death was announced on his YouTube channel, "Coffee with Cullotta".