Moe Dalitz

Morris Barney (Moe) Dalitz, a Cleveland rum runner who figured prominently in the early success of the Las Vegas Strip and was dogged by charges of organized crime connections despite his philanthropic good deeds, died Thursday in his Las Vegas home after a long illness. He was indicted in 1965 by a Los Angeles federal grand jury on income tax evasion charges, but they were dropped. In 1978, the state's Organized Crime Control Commission identified Dalitz as one of the top "organized crime figures in California." In the 1983 book, "The Mob," by former Chicago Crime Commission director Virgil W. Peterson, Dalitz was identified as one of the "Big Four" in the Cleveland Syndicate, named for its city of origin. Born near Boston on Christmas Eve, 1899, Dalitz established himself in Detroit and Cleveland as an owner of a string of laundries. He moved to Las Vegas in 1949 when he was asked to help finance completion of the Desert Inn hotel and casino. In the early 1950s, Dalitz formed Paradise Development Co., which built Las Vegas' Sunrise Hospital, Boulevard Mall, Country Club, convention center, residential tracts and several buildings at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In 1962, Dalitz joined his Las Vegas partner, Allard Roen, and Irwin Molasky and Merv Adelson to create the La Costa residential, sports and recreation spa in San Diego County, built at a cost of $100 million.