Name Lou Rothkopf | ||
Louis Rothkopf, also known as Louis Rhody (June 3, 1903 – 1956), was an American businessman. He was a bootlegger in Cleveland, Ohio, during Prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s. He was an investor in casinos in Las Vegas, and racetracks in Ohio and Kentucky in the 1940s and 1950s.
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Early life
Louis Rothkopf was born on July 3, 1903.
Career
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.
Rothkopf and Max Diamond were convicted of tax evasion over liquor sales and sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined $5,000 in 1937. The trial showed they had failed to pay taxes on US$150,000 sales of illegal alcohol.
Rothkopf was an investor in the Desert Inn Casino, a casino in Las Vegas. He was also an investor in gambling businesses in Kentucky and Ohio. In 1936, alongside Moe Dalitz, Morris Kleinman and Sam Tucker, Rothkopf invested in the River Downs and Thistledown racetracks in Ohio.
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. 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.
Personal life and death
Rothkopf resided in a 37-acre estate in Bainbridge Center" (formerly home to the Maple Club, a gambling establishment) with his wife. She shot herself on June 6, 1955. A year later, on July 18, 1956, Rothkopf was found dead in his car on their estate.
By the time of his death, his estate was worth US$225,000. He bequeathed US$5,000 to five philanthropic organizations, for a total of US$25,000.