Interview with Bernie Sindler

To follow up this week's INSIDE VEGAS column on Rick Porrello's AmericanMafia.com, I found a two part interview of Bernie Sindler. I met Mr. Sindler, now 88 years old, at last Tuesday's Mob Month presentation. He is the last surviving associate of the Jewish Mob in Las Vegas led by Meyer Lansky (Hyman Roth in the movie Godfather, Part II).

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Lansky and Sindler were active in Las Vegas at the time when local residents "didn't need to lock their doors at night." An era when "Cowboy Justice" prevailed under then-Sheriff Ralph Lamb and City of Las Vegas Police Chief John Moran -- a time when "What happened in Vegas, (Really) stayed in Vegas." This was the era before the arrival of Tony Spilotro, the Hole In The Wall Gang, and their protector Oscar Goodman -- the beginning of the end of Old Las Vegas. Mr. Sindler's dead associates are spinning in their graves for what their town has become. SM April 15th, 2008 by Inside Lenz Network/Blog Talk Radio Feed Tonight's guest is Bernard Sindler. In the mid-1940s,at the age of 18, Bernie was a magician with a deck of cards, possibly the best sleight of hand man around. While taking a train ride to Florida he had a chance meeting with Meyer Lansky, and a friendship developed that lasted until Lansky's death in 1983. Lansky sent Bernie to Las Vegas where he worked as a spotter at Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo. He went on to be part owner in the Silver Slipper, Circus Circus, and the Frontier. PART ONE: PART TWO: