Hole in the Wall Gang, in My Own Words: A Memoir

Frank was a self taught master criminal. As a teenager he took a locksmith course to learn to open locks without keys; he made friends with an electronics expert and learned how to make a portable police radio long before police scanners became available to the public; he cultivated people who worked for alarm companies and learned how their systems worked and how they could be defeated; he invented a tool to access Ace alarm boxes that also worked to open money drawers of pay telephones; he had a passion for cars and learned how to modify them to secrete weapons, burglary tools and stolen merchandise; and he learned about explosives and how to start fires and make them appear to be accidental. Frank assembled a crew of expert thieves, arsonists and killers who became known as the Hole in the Wall Gang because of their penchant for breaking into buildings by making a hole in the wall. For three years they were the most powerful players in the Las Vegas underworld. With the help of informants working in hotels and insurance agencies they made tens of thousands of dollars from tourists and locals. They also extorted money from illegal bookies and drug dealers by using violence or the treat of violence. Arson for hire was on their menu and if a person had to be roughed up or killed in order to protect their operations, no problem.