http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Apr-26-Tue-2005/news/26376620.html
"Tony Spilotro was a little man with a big reputation for violence in Las Vegas.

Depending on the source, Spilotro, barely 5 feet 5 inches tall, was involved in as many as 22 murders. He was never convicted of homicide, but was himself brutally murdered.

Although Spilotro's legend has grown into a colossus thanks to the news media and Hollywood, on his best day "Tony the Ant" was still a diminutive cog in a big wheel of organized crime. It's something reporters and crime buffs sometimes forget as they recount his many alleged exploits. "

http://www.mahalo.com/Tony_The_Ant_Spilotro

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number;=205011&page;=3
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Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro (May 19, 1938 – June 14, 1986) was an Italian-American mobster and enforcer for the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas during the 1970s and 1980s. It is generally thought his job was to protect and oversee the Outfit's illegal casino profits, called, the "skim." Spilotro replaced Outfit member Marshall Caifano in Las Vegas.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Spilotro

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Anthony “Tony the Ant” Spilotro and his brother Michael Spilotoro were killed in 1986. Tony the Ant was a mobster with the Chicago Outfit in Las Vegas.

The movie ''Casino'' was based on Tony the Ant and Frank "Lefty Rosenthal. The character "Nicky Santoro" was based on him, played by Joe Pesci.

Recently, Chicago crime boss James Marcello was sentenced to life for his role in their killings.
Source(s):
http://www.mahalo.com/James_Marcello?s=1

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Tony the Ant's real and legal name was Anthony Spilotro he was born on May 19, 1938 in Chicago. Spilotro grew up in a loving family, and seemed to be on track for a decent and honest life. But he decided he wanted something else, and in his sophmore year at Steinmetz Highschool he dropped out and turned to a life of crime.

Once out of school he joined forces with other Steinmetz dropouts and engaged in petty crimes, like shoplifting and purse snatching. On January 11, 1955 Spilotro is arrested for the first time, for stealing a shirt. He is fined ten dollars and is put on probation.

But after several more arrests Spilotro receives some special attention from the police. By 1960 Spilotro has been arrested thirteen times and he feels he is ready for the next step in his criminal career.

The above is according to the website gangster inc dot com. But the overall picture that emerges of this character is that he was a tough as nails no nonsense mafia enforcer. He got his name after an FBI agent investigating him reffered to him as that little pissant, thereafter the press nicknamed him Tony The Ant. He went on later to form his own gang which was called The Hole In The Wall Gang.

This gang was made up out of Spilotro and his brother and their associates. They were called the hole in the wall gang, because when they committed a burglary they would gain entry by making a hole in the wall. Eventually he ran afoul of the Outfit, The Chicago Branch of The Mafia, Cosa Nostra.

On June 14, 1986 Spilotro and his brother Michael were summoned to an Outfit meeting. They were beaten with baseball bats, and driven to an Indiana cornfield where they were buried in a shallow grave. And so was the end of one of Las Vegas most notorious mobsters.

That is the long and short of Tony The Ant.
Source(s):
http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/Spilotro.html
http://www.mahalo.com/Tony_The_Ant_Spilotro
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Spilotro http://gangstersinc.tripod.com/HoleWallGang.html

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