Early Years
Rosenthal was born in Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's West Side. As a youth, Rosenthal learned sports betting in the bleachers of Wrigley Field, and would often skip classes to attend Chicago sporting events. By the mid 1950s, he was working with the Chicago Outfit. Chosen for his gambling ability, Rosenthal ran the biggest illegal bookmaking office in the US on behalf of the Mafia. Based in Cicero, Illinois under the guise of the Cicero Home Improvement company, the Outfit and Rosenthal bought "contracts" from sports bribers to fix sporting events. After being indicted as a co-conspirator on multiple sports bribery charges, Rosenthal moved the operation to North Bay Village in Miami to avoid attention.
By 1961 Rosenthal had acquired a national reputation as a sports bettor, oddsmaker and handicapper and was frequently seen in the company of prominent Chicago Outfit members Jackie Cerone and Fiore Buccieri while living in Miami. At this time Rosenthal was issued with a subpoena to appear before Senator McClellan's subcommittee on Gambling and Organized Crime, accused of match fixing. He invoked the Fifth Amendment 37 times and was never charged. Due to this he was barred from racing establishments in Florida. Despite his frequent arrests for illegal gambling and bookmaking, Rosenthal was convicted only once, pleading no contest in 1963, for allegedly bribing New York University player Ray Paprocky to shave points for a college basketball game in North Carolina. Rosenthal was also a suspect in multiple business and car bombings in the greater Miami area during the 1960s. It was at this time the FBI opened an ongoing case file on Rosenthal which amassed to 300 pages. Once again to escape police attention, Rosenthal moved to Las Vegas in 1968.
Read more about this topic: Frank Rosenthal
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