He definitely accumulated a lot of power from the early to mid 70's into the 80's. I've always wondered how he even got the nod to be 'the guy' out in Vegas. I know he had strong relationships with some of the top dogs in the outfit, but he was never a crew boss and was pretty inexperienced to be given something as big and lucrative as Las Vegas. I'd imagine there were guys who were way more capable, but clearly the man had a lot influence and respect...until he didn't.
Spilotro wasnt a smart moneymaker because before going to AZ (yes he was in AZ first before going to Vegas), most of his gambling ops in Chicago were on the downfall and I dont think that he was ever involved in union racketeering (unless i missed or forgot something). Spilotro's main rackets was the burglary business, car-theft, narcotics, loan sharking (to an extent) and above all, murder.
Spilotro had the stomach to torture people in the worst ways and also killed everyone on the Outfit's orders, obviously because he had the best mentors for the jobs such as Chuck Nicoletti, Mad Sam and Milwaukee Phil. Thats why I personally believe when someone says that Spilotro was one of the youngest Outfit guys who was feared by many members and associates within the organization and so thats the type of psycho that the bosses needed to watch over their interests in Vegas, and all of the Midwest guys knew about Spolotro's reputation and so they werent able to fuck around with the Outfit's interests.
The same thing was with Marshall Caifano who was Vegas rep before both Roselli and Spilotro. I mean Caifano wasnt some big time moneymaker but instead he knew how to kill people in the most brutal way and also knew how the handle bombs. So his murderous reputation preceded him both in Chicago and around the country, and thats why Caifano was sent to Vegas. Again, same situation as Spilotro's. And Roselli was also no different, meaning shooting street lights with his pistol while driving girls in his car along the Vegas strip, makes you wonder on how much power this guy had in "Sin City" at the time?!
The so-called Battaglia/Grand Av "Outfit" (Alderisio, Nicoletti, Caifano, the DeStefanos, the Spilotros Tony and Vic) was quite feared and respected during those days and thats why later Lombardo inherited all of this and became one of the most respected capos and representative on the Outfit's board of reps or directors.
On top of that it seems that during the 60's some type of close relations occurred between the Grand Av crew and the Elmwood Park group under Accardo, Cerone, Gagliano and DeBiase. It seems DeBiase from the EP crew was allegedly a mentor of many members including Joey Lombardo (Grand Av), and during the 70s many Grand Av members used joints as their headquarters which were owned by EP members such as Cerone and John DiFronzo. Later we have info that Andriacchi (EP) was allegedly related through marriage with Lombardo. So maybe this close connection also somehow influenced on Accardo and Cerone to choose Spilotro (Grand Av) as their rep in Vegas.
In addition, I think the late Frank Cullotta once mentioned that if Spilotro stayed in Chicago, he was going to be the capo for the Grand Av crew instead of Lombardo. And Cullotta allegedly said that this was revealed to him by Spilotro himself.
