Oscar Goodman
In most places when a politician has a background that involves being the defense attoney for many of the biggest organized crime figures of the last half century, they would have trouble being elected to the post of piranha. In Las Vegas though, sometimes the world doesn't work the same way as it does everywhere else.
Goodman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family stressed education to the point where young Oscar qualified for Harvard. In 1961 he graduated from the Ivy League school with an undergraduate degree. He continued his education closer to home at the University of Pennsylvania. It was from here that he received his law degree in 1964. With degree in hand, he was admitted to the Nevada Bar Association in 1965 and he served as Chief Deputy Public Defender in Clark County, Nevada from 1966 to 1967.
His life as a defense attorny is the sort of thing movies are made of. During his career he represented defendants who are recognized as being some of the leading organized crime figures in Las Vegas. His client list included such men as Meyer Lansky and former Stardust Casino boss Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal. One of his most notorious clients was reputed Chicago mobster Anthony 'Tony the Ant' Spilotro. Spilotro's violent tendencies were the basis of the character Nicky Santoro (played by Joe Pesci) in the Scorsese film Casino. Because of his profile as a defense attorny, Goodman was given a cameo in this movie.
On June 8th, 1999 the good people of Las Vegas elected Oscar Goodman as their mayor. He served honorabley in his first term and won re-election in 2003.
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