[Arizona Mafia - La Costa Nostra article] Mob bust nets 2 Arizonans - 14 arrests cover 30 years of hits

Dennis Wagner
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 26, 2005

Two Arizona men were among 14 suspects indicted and arrested Monday on racketeering charges that cover numerous Mafia murders over the past three decades, including the 1986 hit of Las Vegas mob enforcer Tony "The Ant" Spilotro.

The case appears to solve one of Phoenix's most notorious homicides: the 1986 slaying of restaurant maitre d' Emil "Mal" Vaci, who had been called before a federal grand jury investigating Spilotro's criminal operation.

Paul Schiro, 67, of Phoenix, identified by authorities as a mob burglar and hit man who worked for Spilotro, was among those named in the indictment. Schiro, nicknamed "The Indian," already is in prison for other crimes. advertisement

Another Arizona suspect, Anthony Doyle, 60, of Wickenburg, was arrested Monday by an FBI SWAT team. The former Chicago police officer is suspected of assisting a key Chicago crime boss in the mid-1980s.

The federal indictment, unsealed Monday, includes allegations of conspiracy, bookmaking, extortion, loan sharking, obstructing justice and other crimes. Defendants include Joey "The Clown" Lombardo, regarded as one of Chicago's top organized-crime figures, and others identified as "made" members of the Mafia.

"This unprecedented indictment puts a hit on the mob," said Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney for the district of northern Illinois, in a written statement. "After so many years, it lifts the veil of secrecy and exposes the violent underworld of organized crime."

Robert Grant, top FBI official in Illinois, described the charges as "a milestone in the FBI's battle against organized crime."

The investigation, dubbed Operation Family Secrets, culminated Monday with arrests in Illinois, Florida and Arizona.

Authorities said seven of the defendants either committed murder or agreed to do so. Only one of the homicides took place in Arizona.

Schiro moved to the Valley in the mid-1960s and was featured in a 1978 Arizona Republic special report on Mafia figures in the state. He was a business partner to the 73-year-old Vaci, who once operated a mob-connected business ferrying gamblers to Las Vegas. Both men were members of the "Hole-in-the-Wall Gang," a burglary ring that burrowed into walls of businesses and residences to take jewelry and artwork.

In 1986, while Spilotro was under investigation, someone shot Vaci six times in the head and dumped his body in a dry canal near 48th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix. That killing is among 18 attributed to defendants from 1970 to 1986. The indictment does not implicate Schiro specifically, but federal prosecutors allege that he "committed murder and other crimes on behalf of the (mob)."

A week after Vaci died, Spilotro and his brother, Michael, were beaten and buried alive in an Indiana cornfield, purportedly because the Vaci hit had not been sanctioned. That sordid tale was portrayed in a 1995 film, Casino, featuring Joe Pesci as Tony Spilotro.

Doyle was one of two police officers suspected of helping Chicago mobster Frank Calabrese Sr. by providing information on a homicide investigation. The indictment does not list Doyle among those who committed murder. Records indicate he moved to Arizona from Illinois about four years ago.

During an initial appearance Monday at the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, Doyle requested a court-appointed lawyer but made no other comments.

Reach the reporter at dennis.wagner@arizonarepublic.com.