Published on: June 22, 2026, 03:11h.
Updated on: June 22, 2026, 03:18h.
- Nevada officials are likely to lift the casino exclusion for William Cammisano Jr. and Peter Ribaste following their passing.
- Both individuals were associated with the Kansas City crime family, which federal prosecutors connected to infamous Las Vegas casino skimming schemes.
- What prompted Nevada to specifically target these two Missouri mobsters for lifetime expulsion decades after the mob’s prime?
The Nevada Gaming Commission is anticipated to remove two deceased alleged Kansas City mobsters from the state’s infamous “Black Book,” a registry of individuals banned from Nevada casinos.
Having satisfied the terms of their lifetime exclusions, William Cammisano Jr. and Peter Ribaste, who passed away in 2023 and 2021, respectively, will be evaluated for removal by the gaming authority in a meeting on Thursday, according to CDC Gaming.
The two have been on the blacklist—officially known as Nevada’s List of Excluded Persons—since the late 1990s.
‘Willie Rats’
Cammisano persistently denied any connections to the Kansas City Mafia, despite the claims from federal prosecutors. His father, William “Willie Rats” Cammisano Sr., led the crime family during the 1980s, and the younger Cammisano was noted in federal court documents as a trusted subordinate.
In 1989, he was convicted for obstructing justice by threatening a witness in a federal murder investigation.
FBI testimony during the trial indicated that he was a made member of the Kansas City mob. Initially sentenced to five years in jail, his sentence was later reduced on appeal.
In 2010, he incurred another prison sentence due to his involvement in an illicit online sports betting operation that allegedly generated $3.6 million in wagers over three years.
Alleged Soldier
On the other hand, Ribaste was known as a soldier within the Kansas City organization for decades, reportedly taking orders directly from boss Carl Civella and underboss Carl DeLuna, according to court records.
Upon relocating to Las Vegas’ Spanish Trail neighborhood in 1989, Ribaste ventured into the car dealership business with a $100,000 loan from Horseshoe Club co-owner Ted Binion, raising questions from gaming regulators later on.
As reported by The Las Vegas Sun, Ribaste maintained ties with organized crime figures and was seen in Las Vegas with a made member of the Kansas City mob less than a year before he was added to Nevada’s Black Book.
But why were these two, from a criminal organization located over 1,000 miles away from Las Vegas, specifically chosen by Nevada regulators for exclusion?
What Spurred the Decision?
During the 1970s and 1980s, the Civella crime family was one of several Midwest mob organizations that discreetly siphoned funds from Las Vegas casinos before they were counted or taxed.
Federal prosecutors eventually linked Kansas City mob members to skimming operations at Argent Corporation casinos, including the Stardust and Fremont, exposing one of the most infamous corruption scandals in Nevada’s gaming history.
Prosecutors alleged Cammisano held discussions with Chicago organized crime figures regarding the Kansas City family’s share of proceeds from the sale of Argent casinos and their cut from Las Vegas skimming operations.
Meanwhile, Ribaste remained under the spotlight due to his supposed ongoing associations with members of the Kansas City crime family while residing in Las Vegas.
Nevada’s Black Book aims to exclude individuals deemed a threat to the integrity of the state’s gaming sector. Regulators perceived Cammisano and Ribaste as members of a crime family with a documented history of infiltrating Las Vegas casinos.
Both men succumbed to complications related to COVID-19.