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Louis Rothkopf, also known as Louis Rhody, Lou Rody or John Zarumba[1][2] (October 11, 1902[3] – July 17, 1956),[4] was an American businessman and career criminal. He was a bootlegger in Cleveland, Ohio, during Prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s.[5] He was an investor in casinos in Las Vegas, and racetracks in Ohio and Kentucky in the 1940s and 1950s.
Louis Rothkopf | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 11, 1902 Cleveland, Ohio, US |
| Died | July 17, 1956 (aged 53) Bainbridge, Ohio, US |
| Resting place | Glenville Cemetery, Cleveland |
| Other names | Lou Rhody, Lou Rody, John Zarumba, Uncle Louie |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse |
Blanche Morgan
(m. 1929; died 1955) |
Rothkopf was born on October 11, 1902, in Cleveland, Ohio.[6] He attended three years of high school, and married Blanche Morgan in 1929. The couple had no children.[7] He was known as "Uncle Louie" among showgirls.[8]
As a bootlegger, Rothkopf traveled widely, and supervised alcohol production for the "Cleveland Four," also known as the Cleveland Syndicate.[9][10] Rothkopf is credited with the "erection and operation of the largest illegal distilleries ever found in the United States."[7]
He maintained a suite in Cleveland's Hollenden Hotel with his associates.[2] In the early 1930s, Rothkopf was a partner in the Prospect Advertising Co., a front for a gambling operation.[2]
Rothkopf was described as a Cleveland-based "racketeer" in the press by 1931, when he was sought by the police as a possible witness in the murder of a Cleveland councilor, William E. Potter.[11][12]
Rothkopf and Max Diamond were convicted of tax evasion over liquor sales and sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined $5,000 in 1937.[13] The trial showed they had failed to pay taxes on US$150,000 sales of illegal alcohol.[13]
Rothkopf operated the Pettibone Club (originally the Arrow Club), a gambling club near Solon, Ohio, in Bainbridge Township,[14][15][16] and was connected to the Jungle Inn, located near Youngstown, Ohio.[2]
Rothkopf was an investor in the Desert Inn Casino, a casino in Las Vegas.[1][17] He was also an investor in gambling businesses in Kentucky and Ohio.[1][18][19] In 1936, alongside Moe Dalitz, Morris Kleinman and Sam Tucker, Rothkopf invested in the River Downs and Thistledown racetracks in Ohio.[20]
With Morris Kleinman, Rothkopf was asked to testify before the Senate Crime Investigation Committee chaired by Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver on bootlegging allegations in 1952.[21][22] When both men refused because they didn't want the media to attend their hearing, they were first charged with contempt of Congress and later cleared.[21][22]
Rothkopf and his wife Blanche resided in a 37-acre estate located in Bainbridge Center (formerly home to the Maple Leaf Country Club, or Maple Club, a gambling establishment closed in 1927).[23] Mrs. Rothkopf shot herself on June 6, 1955.[24] A year later, on July 17, 1956, Rothkopf was found dead in his car on their estate.[25][26][27]
His brother was Benjamin Rothkopf. His nephew, Bernard Rothkopf, worked for him in Cleveland and at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas.[8]
By the time of his death, his estate was worth $225,000 (equivalent to $2,521,542 in 2023).[28] He bequeathed $5,000 to five philanthropic organizations, for a total of $25,000.[28]
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