Photo Courtesy of The Mob Museum)
THE MOB MUSEUM ANNOUNCES APRIL PROGRAMS
The Mob Museum, The National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, announces its roster of public programs for April.
All Museum programs require registration. For more information on any of the public programs below and to register, visit www.themobmuseum.org/events/.
Busting the Skim: The Case That Crippled the Mob in Las Vegas
Date: Thursday, April 8
Time: 7 to 8 p.m.
Location: Inside the historic courtroom on the second floor. To watch a livestream of this event, click on the “Watch” button here.
Cost: Free for Museum Members or with Museum admission.
Description: For decades, the Mob skimmed untaxed income from Las Vegas casinos, enriching crime syndicates across the country. In 1986, David Helfrey, chief of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Strike Force in Kansas City, Missouri, spearheaded the prosecution of several Midwestern Mafia bosses accused of skimming from the Stardust and Fremont casinos. Helfrey will provide insights into the high-profile case that inspired the movie “Casino.” This case arguably marks the end of significant Mob involvement with the Las Vegas casino industry.
Speaker: David Helfrey is the former chief of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Strike Force. He has more than 30 years of experience in litigation. In 1980, he became the attorney in charge of the United States Department of Justice’s Kansas City Strike Force against organized crime. His final prosecution of the Mafia leaders of the Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee families for offenses related to the unlawful control and “skimming” from various Las Vegas casinos was made into a major motion picture entitled “Casino.”
Community Safety Forum: Battling Addiction
Date: Sunday, April 18
Time: 2 to 3 p.m.
Location: Inside the historic courtroom on the second floor. A livestream of the presentation will be posted on the Museum’s website thanks to NV Energy’s generous support. To watch a livestream of this event, click on the “Watch” button here.
Cost: Free, including free Museum admission, thanks to sponsorship provided by NV Energy. Registration is required.
Description: More than 20 million Americans struggle with some sort of addiction. Addiction takes a wide-ranging toll on addicts and their family members. About 88,000 people die as a result of alcohol abuse every year in the United States, while drug-related deaths have more than tripled since 2000. In recognition of National Alcohol Awareness Month, Will Allphin of Foundation for Recovery will highlight the dangers of alcohol and drug misuse and describe what it takes to maintain long-term recovery.
Each month, The Mob Museum partners with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and other local agencies to host Community Safety Forums – free public programs focused on pertinent issues that affect Southern Nevada. Thanks to NV Energy, pre-registered guests are given free admission to the Museum following the event. The Mob Museum will also provide a recording of this presentation on its website.
Speaker: Will Allphin of Foundation for Recovery
Writing the Mob: Chronicling Organized Crime in the 20th Century – A Virtual Author Talk Series
Date: The Mob Museum will host Virtual Author Talks April through June. The first two presentations of the series follow:
Thursday, April 15: J. Michael Niotta and Avi Bash, “Los Angeles Underworld”
Tuesday, April 27: Russell Shorto, “Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob”
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: The Virtual Author Talks will be available online at themobmuseum.org/events, on Facebook Live and YouTube Live.
Cost: Free
Description: This series of virtual presentations, exploring the real stories behind the Mob’s heyday, features authors of new organized crime histories and memoirs. From New York to Los Angeles and even Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the Mob’s tentacles reached into all corners of North America during the 20th century. Historians continue to explore this rich story to understand what really happened during the Mob’s American heyday.
Arming the Cartels: How America Fuels Violence South of the Border
Date: Wednesday, April 21
Time: 7 to 8 p.m.
Location: The event will be livestreamed. Click here for more information.
Cost: Free
Description: Journalist Ioan Grillo, who has covered the international drug trade and its brutal tactics for 20 years, will discuss an often-overlooked facet of the story: the United States is the primary source of guns for the murderous Mexican drug cartels. Grillo tracks how legal guns in America make their way into the hands of criminals, fueling violence on both sides of the border.
Speaker: Ioan Grillo is the author of “Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs and Cartels.” Grillo is a reporter based in Mexico City. He has been covering Latin America’s association with drug cartels since 2001 and his media portfolio includes Time Magazine, CNN, Reuters, The Houston Chronicle, The Associated Press, CBC, The Telegraph and much more. Ioan has witnessed it all from murder scenes to the fields of where drugs are born and even prison cells as well as luxury condominiums of criminals.
See www.themobmuseum.org for details and restrictions.
To ensure the safety of staff and visitors, all guests are required to wear face coverings. All personnel of The Mob Museum have a comprehensive public safety operational plan to follow which can be found here.
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 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. Numerous interactive exhibits include a Crime Lab, Firearm Training Simulator and Organized Crime Today exhibit. The Museum is also home to The Underground, a Prohibition history exhibition featuring a speakeasy and distillery sponsored by Zappos. 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 National Geographic’s “Top 10 Things to Do in Las Vegas,” USA Today’s “Best Museum in Nevada” and No. 1 in the 2020 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards for “Best Las Vegas Attraction” 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. The Museum is a two-time winner of the Mayor’s Urban Design Award for Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The Museum is open daily; visit the website for admission rates and operating hours. For more information, call (702) 229-2734, visit themobmuseum.org, or download the Museum’s free mobile app.