THE MOB MUSEUM ANNOUNCES AUGUST PROGRAMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE MOB MUSEUM ANNOUNCES AUGUST PROGRAMS

LAS VEGAS (August 2019) – The Mob Museum, The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, announces its roster of public programs for August.

The New Crime Lords: Organized Crime in a Digital World

• • Date: Saturday, August 3
  • Time: 2 p.m.
  • Location: Organized Crime Today Exhibit on the first floor at The Mob Museum.
  • Cost: Free for Museum Members with Museum Admission.
  • Description: Veteran journalist Elaine Shannon, author, most recently, of Hunting Leroux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire, will discuss the evolution of transnational organized crime and its intersection with terrorism. Shannon will discuss the inner workings of modern crime networks by connecting the dots between rogue states and the criminal groups that help fund their agendas.

Gotti’s Boys: The Men Behind the Fast Rise and Inevitable Fall of John Gotti

• • Date: Thursday, August 8
  • Time: 7 p.m.
  • Location: In the Historic Courtroom on the second floor.
  • Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum Admission.
  • Speaker: Paul Veteran New York Mob historian and author Tony DeStefano’s latest book, Gotti’s Boys, explores the rise of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti and the crew of cold-blooded characters who worked for him during his heyday in the 1980s and early ’90s. DeStefano will reveal details about the stealth and planning that went into Gotti’s audacious plot to kill Gambino boss Paul Castellano in 1985 and secure his role as the new boss. Newly available FBI files provide fresh details on the Gotti story, including how the FBI was able to bring him down.
  • Description: New York Mob historian Tony DeStefano explores the rise of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, including the audacious plot to kill his predecessor, Paul Castellano. New FBI files give fresh details about Gotti and the cold-blooded crew who worked for him. The event will be followed by a book signing.

RatSnakes: An Inside Look at the ATF’s Elite Undercover Unit

• • Date: Saturday, August 10
  • Time: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Location: In the Oscar B. Goodman Room on the third floor followed by a book signing in the retail store.
  • Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum Admission.
  • Speaker: Vincent Cefalu, retired agent for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
  • Description: Vincent Cefalu will describe the work of the agency’s elite undercover unit, known as the RatSnakes. The RatSnakes infiltrated biker gangs and other organized crime groups. After 30 years as an ATF undercover operative, Cefalu is telling his story about the dangerous and secret world of the groups he infiltrated – from the Ku Klux Klan to motorcycle gangs to Asian organized crime groups.

Death and Survival in Cartel Land: The Personal Cost of the DEA’s War on Drug Traffickers

• • Date: Monday, August 12
  • Time:  7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
  • Location: In the Historic Courtroom on the second floor.
  • Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum Admission
  • Speakers: James Kuykendall, Rosalinda Conde, Rita Ware, Mika Camarena and Roger Guevara.
  • Description: In America’s long-running war on drugs, DEA agents have always been on the front lines. They face untold dangers in their efforts to take down ruthless drug traffickers. DEA undercover agent Kiki Camarena was kidnapped, tortured and killed in Mexico in 1985. Ten years earlier, DEA agents Don Ware and Roy Stevenson were kidnapped, beaten and shot. They survived, but the ordeal left permanent scars. In this panel discussion, widows Mika Camarena and Rita Ware will describe the lasting effects of these violent acts on their lives and their families. Retired DEA agent James Kuykendall will delve into what happened to Camarena, while current agent Rosalinda Conde will explain how law enforcement finally tracked down the last suspect in the attack on Ware and Stevenson. 

Community Safety Forum: Home and Personal Safety

• • Date: Sunday, August 18
  • Time:  2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Location: In the Historic Courtroom on the second floor.
  • Cost: Free, including free Museum admission, thanks to sponsorship provided by NV Energy. Also, thanks to NV Energy’s generous support, The Mob Museum will provide live streaming of the presentations online.
  • Description: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will lead a program on home and personal safety where attendees will learn self-defense tips for safety in public spaces, strategies for ensuring situational awareness and how to minimize risks and vulnerabilities.

The Jukebox Racket: How the Mob Made Millions One Nickel at a Time.

• • Date: Saturday, August 24
  • Time: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Location: Oscar B. Goodman Room on the third floor
  • Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum Admission
  • Speaker: Jeff Burbank
  • Description: Content development specialist at The Mob Museum, Jeff Burbank, traces the evolution of the jukebox and explains how it became a lucrative racket for the Mob. The Mob’s biggest names, from Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello to Sam Giancana and Carlos Marcello, profited from controlling hundreds of thousands of jukeboxes across the country from the 1930s through the 1970s.

From Windy City to Sin City: A Book Signing with Former Chicago Mobster Frank Cullotta

• • Date: Saturday, August 31
  • Time:  1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Location: In the Museum gift shop.
  • Cost: Free

Description: Frank Cullotta, the Chicago Mob associate turned government witness, will sign copies of his books, Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster, and Government Witness and The Rise and Fall of a “Casino” Mobster. The Rise and Fall of a “Casino” Mobster tells the life story of Chicago mobster Tony “The Ant” Spilotro through the eyes of his childhood friend, Cullotta. Spilotro was sent to Las Vegas in 1971 to help support a massive casino skimming operation. While in Las Vegas, he assembled a crew of thieves, led by Cullotta, that became known as the Hole in the Wall Gang.

For more information, please call (702) 229-2734 or visit themobmuseum.org.

ABOUT THE MOB MUSEUM
The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides a world-class, interactive journey through true stories—from the birth of the Mob to today’s headlines. The Mob Museum offers a provocative, contemporary look at these topics through hundreds of artifacts and immersive storylines. Whether you like it or not, this is American history. It debuted a major renovation in 2018, including a Crime Lab, Firearm Training Simulator and Organized Crime Today exhibit as well as The Underground, a basement-level Prohibition history exhibition featuring a speakeasy and distillery, and sponsored by Zappos. The Mob Museum has been awarded accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition afforded U.S. museums. Since opening in 2012, The Mob Museum has accumulated numerous accolades, including being named one of TripAdvisor’s “Top 25 U.S. Museums,” one of Las Vegas Weekly’s “Twenty Greatest Attractions in Las Vegas History,” one of Hotel.com’s Top 7 “Travel Brag Landmarks,” USA Today’s “Best Museum in Nevada” and one of its “12 Can’t Miss U.S. Museum Exhibits,” “A Must for Travelers” by The New York Times and one of “20 Places Every American Should See” by Fox News andBudget Travel magazine. The Museum is a two-time winner of the Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse. Its house-distilled moonshine received top honors, the Double Gold Award, from The Fifty Best. General admission is $26.95 for adults ages 18 and over with special pricing for online purchase, children, seniors, military, law enforcement, Nevada residents, and teachers. The Museum is open daily; visit the website for up-to-date operating hours. For more information, call (702) 229-2734 or visit themobmuseum.org. Connect on Facebook at facebook.com/themobmuseum or Twitter @themobmuseum.

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