Joseph Vincent "Joey" Cusumano, a figure from Chicago's Las Vegas era, dies at 90

Joseph Vincent “Joey” Cusumano, a figure from Chicago’s Las Vegas era, dies at 90

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The Passing of Joseph Cusumano at 90 Closes a Significant Chapter of Chicago’s Era in Las Vegas

When Joseph Vincent “Joey” Cusumano died at the age of 90, his passing took to the grave a final layer of underground history that corporate-owned Las Vegas left behind decades ago. Known as “Joey London” after arriving from New York in the 1960s, Cusumano established deep ties with the Chicago Outfit during an era when organized crime figures operated openly within major Strip properties like Caesars Palace. While contemporary Las Vegas is dominated by publicly traded entertainment conglomerates, Cusumano’s death on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, marks the literal end of the generation that answered directly to East Coast bosses and ran street-level rackets alongside ruthless enforcers.

Cusumano was never a made member of the Mafia, but he functioned squarely within the underground command structure as a trusted associate of Anthony “Tony the Ant” Spilotro. John Binder, author of The Chicago Outfit, explained that Cusumano initially operated as a representative of the Genovese family at Caesars Palace before shifting his allegiance to the Outfit and working closely with Spilotro’s crew from 1971 until roughly 1985.

Mobster Joey Cusumano dies, signaling end of Chicago era in Las Vegas

From Strip Hangouts to Hollywood Backlots

During the peak of the mob’s casino influence, Cusumano helped deliver skimmed profits to Genovese bosses Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno and Vincent “Jimmy Blue Eyes” Alo in New York. By 1970, he left casino employment to open Joey’s New Yorker, an Italian restaurant south of the Sands that quickly transformed into a bustling neighborhood hangout and headquarters for various criminal enterprises.

His ventures eventually stretched far beyond Nevada state lines. Alongside Spilotro, Cusumano worked behind the scenes on Francis Ford Coppola’s 1984 film The Cotton Club, helping secure financing and managing volatile personalities on set—efforts that earned him a formal line-producer credit.

Yet that era collapsed violently in 1986 with the murders of Tony Spilotro and his brother Michael, whose bodies were discovered buried in an Indiana cornfield. According to Geoff Schumacher, vice president of research, collections and programs at The Mob Museum, Chicago Outfit leaders reportedly asked Cusumano to step into Spilotro’s vacant role as Las Vegas boss. Cusumano declined.

Prison, Blacklisting, and a Garage Ambush

Cusumano’s criminal past caught up with him shortly thereafter. In 1987, he was convicted of labor racketeering for diverting funds from the Culinary Union’s life-insurance program. Following his release from federal prison in June 1990, Nevada authorities placed him directly into the state’s Black Book, permanently banning him from entering any casino.

CasinoAdvisor: Last Mob Era Survivor Joey Cusumano Dies at 90, Closing Vegas Crime Chapter
Photo: casinoadvisor.com

Just months later, in October 1990, a masked gunman ambushed Cusumano outside his townhouse at the Las Vegas Country Club, shooting him multiple times in the shoulder. He survived the point-blank assassination attempt, carrying several bullets in his body that surgeons could not safely remove. “I think Joey knew who did it,” Schumacher observed. “He was well aware of why they did it, and he never shared.”

The Final Decades of Quiet Redemption

In the 36 years that followed, Cusumano kept a remarkably low profile, spending his time playing tennis at the country club and dining with friends, including former Las Vegas mayor and his former defense attorney, Oscar Goodman. Though Cusumano crafted the menu for Oscar’s Steakhouse in downtown Las Vegas, his Black Book status meant he could never physically step inside the restaurant, which operated inside the Plaza casino.

Reflecting on his survival in a 2012 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, columnist John L. Smith dubbed Cusumano “the luckiest man in Las Vegas.” Cusumano himself offered a simple assessment of his later years: “I lived what I lived, and it’s over. The best thing about the way I’m living now is the peace. I miss Tony, but the truth is that if he was still around, we wouldn’t be here. We would have had a lot of problems.”

Cusumano stepped aside from active organized crime involvement years prior to his death, outliving both his enemies and the era that defined him. Funeral services are scheduled for mid-November, with a visitation at Palm Mortuary-Cheyenne from 3 to 7 p.m. on November 13, followed by a service at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church from 11 a.m. to noon on November 14, and a committal at Bunker’s Memory Gardens from 2 to 3 p.m.

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