by stubbs » Fri Jun 19, 2020 8:59 am
I’m from Houston and I’ve read tons of info on the Fertittas and Maceos. The truth is they were very smalltime and ran a few small illegal gambling houses, like the Balinese Room.
But that all got shut down in 1957, the same year Tilman was born. The Maceos were already dead by then, and their group fizzled out. One raid and the whole thing was over, that’s how smalltime we’re talking.
There’s zero evidence the Maceos were LCN. They may have been under Dallas or have just been independent, I haven’t seen any documented proof they were actual made members. They’ve also never been considered a separate LCN family according to any serious researcher. But feel free to share any quotes from credible LCN researchers and prove me wrong.
As for Tilman, he’s a 100% legit businessman. He’s worth like $4 billion (at least before covid) and is the richest restauranteur in the world. If he was some criminal mastermind, every DA and federal agent from every agency would have a hard on for arresting him, because a case like that would make their career like Guiliani. But he’s legit.
I know it’s not as fun as thinking he’s the mastermind of some large, secret mafia group that controls all crime along he Gulf Coast, but he’s really just another boring, vapid billionaire who runs a lot of tacky chain restaurants that sell overpriced, unseasoned frozen food to unsuspecting tourists.
If he was a mobster, there’s no way in a million years the NBA would’ve let him in as an owner. Given their issues with gambling and crooked refs like Tim Donaghy (who was in debt to mobbed up bookies), there’s no way the NBA would set themselves up for a scandal like that. It would call into question the integrity of the entire league.
He’s also about as Italian as Chef Boyardee or the Olive Garden.
[quote=Kash post_id=156879 time=1592542534 user_id=5174]
Came across an article about Tilman Fertitta claiming he was 4th generation of a mafia family. It went through a whole timeline alleging all kinds of family connections to the casino skim in Vegas.
https://www.truehoop.com/p/fertitta-family-history
I went down a rabbit hole reading about Galveston, Tx. Seems a crew of Sicilian immigrants led by Sam
Maceo did run the rackets but was wondering if they were considered a real LCN family?
Cpl more article links
https://crimecapsule.com/the-architecture-of-vice-the-maceo-family-of-galveston/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texasmonthly.com/articles/one-last-shot/amp/
[/quote]
I’m from Houston and I’ve read tons of info on the Fertittas and Maceos. The truth is they were very smalltime and ran a few small illegal gambling houses, like the Balinese Room.
But that all got shut down in 1957, the same year Tilman was born. The Maceos were already dead by then, and their group fizzled out. One raid and the whole thing was over, that’s how smalltime we’re talking.
There’s zero evidence the Maceos were LCN. They may have been under Dallas or have just been independent, I haven’t seen any documented proof they were actual made members. They’ve also never been considered a separate LCN family according to any serious researcher. But feel free to share any quotes from credible LCN researchers and prove me wrong.
As for Tilman, he’s a 100% legit businessman. He’s worth like $4 billion (at least before covid) and is the richest restauranteur in the world. If he was some criminal mastermind, every DA and federal agent from every agency would have a hard on for arresting him, because a case like that would make their career like Guiliani. But he’s legit.
I know it’s not as fun as thinking he’s the mastermind of some large, secret mafia group that controls all crime along he Gulf Coast, but he’s really just another boring, vapid billionaire who runs a lot of tacky chain restaurants that sell overpriced, unseasoned frozen food to unsuspecting tourists.
If he was a mobster, there’s no way in a million years the NBA would’ve let him in as an owner. Given their issues with gambling and crooked refs like Tim Donaghy (who was in debt to mobbed up bookies), there’s no way the NBA would set themselves up for a scandal like that. It would call into question the integrity of the entire league.
He’s also about as Italian as Chef Boyardee or the Olive Garden.