Thursday, May 29, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Raymond V. "Mario" Marino, a longtime captain at the fabled Sands Copa Room who twice overcame allegations of mob ties to earn gaming licenses to operate a Henderson casino, has died. He was 69.
Funeral services for the 45-year Las Vegas resident who died Friday were today at St. Anne Catholic Church. Interment was in Paradise Memorial Gardens. Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home handled the arrangements.
Marino made headlines in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the State Gaming Control Board recommended license denials based on his alleged ties to purported New Orleans underworld kingpin Carlos Marcello, only to have the Nevada Gaming Commission unanimously overrule the board and award him the licenses.
Marino, admitting that he knew Marcello and acknowledging that he had grown up in Louisiana with Marcello's brothers, denied throughout his life that he was associated with the New Orleans Mafia or any underworld organization.
Still, he epitomized the old image of Las Vegas -- a familiar face in the very room that Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack achieved their reputation as entertainment icons.
Starting as a waiter at the Beverly Country Club near New Orleans in the late 1940s, Marino moved westward, becoming a member of the food and beverage department at the Rice Hotel in Houston. He came to Las Vegas in 1952 to open the Sands as a showroom captain.
Marino eventually became Sands food and beverage director, catering manager and casino host during a 35-year stint. He later built, co-owned and operated the Winners Circle Casino in Henderson.
But achieving that position was not easy, as old friendships haunted him.
In 1967, Life magazine described Marino as a lieutenant for Marcello. In the early 1980s, "The Last Mafioso," a book based on the accounts of Mafia soldier Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno by Ovid Demaris, referred to Marino as a "caporegime," or captain for Marcello.
"I flatly deny, and you can underscore that, I am no caporegime of Carlos Marcello," Marino said in a 1981 news account.
However, gaming officials discovered that Marino had borrowed money from people who reportedly were close to Marcello, including Shreveport, La., restaurateur Ernest Palmasano, which Marino acknowledged as true.
Also, Marino admitted that in his role as a Sands casino executive in the mid-1970s, he had recommended credit for Vincent Marcello, Carlos' brother.
In August 1978, Marino decided to fulfill a 25-year dream to own a casino. But the three-member Control Board recommended denial based on his alleged ties to Marcello.
Letters to gaming officials from Catholic Church officials, then-Nevada Supreme Court Justice John Mowbray and then-Undersheriff John Moran, among others, characterized Marino as a good Nevada citizen.
As a result, the five-member Nevada Gaming Commission voted to overturn the Control Board recommendation and gave Marino a license.
Marino got 42 percent interest in the Winners Circle, which opened on Water Street in January 1979 with six blackjack tables, 70 slots, a craps game and a keno room.
Unfortunately, the gasoline shortage and the recession created an economy crunch that contributed to closure of the casino after a short run. Marino surrendered his license.
But two years later, with new financing, Marino applied again to face a near-mirror result of the first time.
At a January 1981 Gaming Commission hearing, Marino's priest, doctor and Sands management testified on his behalf. One casino official noted: "If we had more employees like Mr. Marino, we would have no problems whatsoever."
The Valley Times, a now-defunct North Las Vegas daily newspaper, published a Jan. 19, 1981, editorial in support of Marino getting a license:
"Mr. Marino has ... lived a clean hard-working life here. He has never been in trouble with the law. He and his Canadian-born wife, Gladys, have raised five honor-student children. They've been involved in all types of church and community activities. In short, they have been good citizens of Nevada.
"(Marino is) a very solid Las Vegan who has earned his stripes here."
Again, the commission overturned the Control Board and gave Marino a license.
Born April 14, 1928, in Kenner, La., Marino was a World War II Army veteran.
In 1957, he married Gladys Marion (nee Demarce) at St. Anne's. He was a longtime contributor to St. Anne's, Bishop Gorman High School and St. Joseph's, St. Anne's and St. Viator's Catholic schools.
The Marinos also were contributors to the building of St. Viator's Church and the Guardian Angel Cathedral.
Marino once was recognized as "Father of the Year" by the SUN.
He was a member of the Variety Club, Knights of Columbus and Kentucky Colonels.
In addition to his wife, Marino is survived by five children, Raymond Marino II of San Mateo, Calif., Dino Marino of Santa Clara, Calif., David Marino of Hamburg, N.Y., Vianney Marino-DePompeis and Roseanne Marino, both of Las Vegas; sisters Rose Camp, Josephine Silvey and Marie Marino, all of Kenner; and two grandchildren.
archive
