![]() The bald, heavyset 74-year old Hilf, a seasoned Jewish wiseguy linked to more than a few old Detroit Prohibition-era Purple Gangers in his come-up through the ranks of the Midwest underworld, died of kidney failure in 2014. Stevens, 53 and a native Detroiter, has never been accused of any affiliation with organized crime, but was reportedly close to ![]() The DeSerrano family is from the ritzy Metro Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe, located just east of the city limits on the water.ĭeSerrano died living in retirement in Las Vegas after working in the hotel and casino industry in his latter years as a host and greeter for high rollers. DeSerrano’s nephew is Downtown Vegas casino mogul Derek Stevens. The parts-manufacturing fortune trust-fund prince DeSerrano, who died of natural causes in the spring at age 75, wagered enormous sums of money on sporting events and games of chance in Michigan and Las Vegas and often brokered bets for others to the Detroit mob’s biggest bookmaker and one of the nation’s best handicappers, Allen (The General) Hilf. Snell came upon the information in research for another story relating to “Dandy Don” DeSerrano and his gambling activity with and on behalf of Detroit mob figures. ![]() The Detroit News and Snell himself stand firmly by their reporting. Mickelson is a well-known high-stakes gambler and has never been one to deny his gambling habits.īefore teeing off in the tournament last Thursday morning, Mickelson vowed to never return to the city nor play in any future Rocket Mortgage Classics in the area. While he admitted the story was accurate, Mickelson claimed it was written to embarrass him and smear his character. In the wake of the article making the rounds on social media and receiving airtime on local sports radio, Mickelson blew his top, questioning Snell and the paper’s integrity and intentions. PGA icon Phil Mickelson landed in Michigan late last week and was greeted with a frontpage story in The Detroit News by crime reporter Rob Snell on June 30 detailing his connections to recently-deceased playboy millionaire and mafia associate Don (Dandy Don) DeSerrano and a $500,000 sports gambling debt DeSerrano owed to Mickelson back in the early 2000s and never paid. ![]() ROB SNELL DETROIT FREE PRESS PROJ– A real-life sports soap opera broke out this past weekend in Detroit at the Rocket Mortgage Classic PGA tournament, involving a diva of a superstar pro athlete, tales of a decades-old mob debt and allegations of yellow journalism. ![]()
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