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Peter Licavoli played an integral role in the organization’s gambling operations in Detroit as a boss of the Detroit Mafia, with the Gotham Hotel playing an extremely important part in these operations. Constructed in the 1920s, this building was originally the Hotel Martinique, an upscale hotel that mainly catered to the white residents of Detroit. However, following its failure to operate profitably, the building at 111 Orchestra Place was purchased by John White, Walter Norwood, and Irving Roane in 1943 and renamed the Gotham Hotel.

The three owners of the Gotham Hotel purchased the building with the purpose of transforming it into a luxury hotel for the African-American community of Detroit. Due to widescale discrimination in Detroit throughout the early 20th century, black residents of Detroit were often barred from residency at many of the city’s hotels. The Gotham Hotel succeeded in its goal of being a luxury destination to black citizens, in part to its exceptional location, classy decor, and top-of-the-class amenities. A measure of success and even an aid to business, the visits from African-American celebrities, like Jackie Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr, Billie Holiday, Jesse Owens, and many others, made the Gotham Hotel a well-known destination in the city. However, the success of the hotel was quickly undermined by the illicit activities of the Detroit mafia.

John White, one of the owners and operators of the Gotham Hotel, used the hotel as a front to run illegal poker games. Politicians and police detectives alike were frequent visitors of the hotel; as a result, it is presumed that those in charge of shutting down illegal operations, like the Gotham Hotel’s gambling ring, knew about its existence but chose to not act. This was the case until November 9, 1962, when “112 officers from the Detroit Police, the IRS and the Michigan State Police descend[ed] on the hotel”. The immediate result of this raid included the arrest of John White and 40 other people involved in the gambling, as well as “160,000 bet slips, $60,000 in cash (the equivalent of $473,000 today, when adjusted for inflation), 33 adding machines, marked playing cards and loaded dice.” Among those missing from the arrests that day was Pete Licavoli. Although never formally indicted or charged for his involvement, Peter Licavoli is assumed to be very involved in these gambling operations, due to his position in the Detroit Mafia and the discovery of his phone number in John White’s personal telephone directory. Seen as one of the most profitable and secure illegal gambling operations in Detroit, the fall of the Gotham Hotel operations deterred others in the city and led to the emigration of these operations to other cities.