vault backup: 2026-10-09 18:27:17
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@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: John Vandewerker
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aliases:
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- John Vandewerker
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created: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-05-17
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updated: 2026-10-09
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category: "Intelligence & Government"
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tags:
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- Person
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@ -18,9 +18,12 @@ John Vandewerker was a former CIA officer who once employed [[Richard Wilker]] a
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Vandewerker said he knew Lister and Wilker were involved in some business activity in El Salvador. "It was kind of touchy... as far as getting out of the country and all that kind of stuff." He did not elaborate. Coincidentally, Vandewerker's name was found in the notebooks of investigative reporter [[Danny Casolaro]] after his death, in connection with the goings-on at the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]].[^1]
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Vandewerker also confirmed to journalist Nick Schou that Ronald Lister and [[William Nelson]] knew each other. When Lister was running to Fluor Corporation's headquarters in 1982 and 1983, it was Nelson - the CIA's former deputy director of operations - with whom he was meeting.[^2]
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[[Peter Zokosky]] told FBI agents in 1992 that those present at the September 10, 1981 night-vision demonstration for the Cabazon venture included a "Mr. VANDERWORKER," and that [[Jimmy Hughes|Jim Hughes]] acted as interpreter for three Spanish-speaking males described as the customers. The records found do not establish whether he is John Vandewerker. The demonstration is described on the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] page.[^2]
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Vandewerker also confirmed to journalist Nick Schou that Ronald Lister and [[William Nelson]] knew each other. When Lister was running to Fluor Corporation's headquarters in 1982 and 1983, it was Nelson - the CIA's former deputy director of operations - with whom he was meeting.[^3]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"
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[^2]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Peter Zokosky, file 74-86438, interview October 5, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992). https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt
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[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"
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@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ relations:
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role: "federal racketeering charges in Los Angeles; guilty plea, five years probation and a $2,000 fine"
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end: 1988
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fn: 3
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- type: member_of
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with: "[[Los Angeles Crime Family]]"
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start: 1986
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role: "identified by the California Attorney General's office as a member of the Southern California Crime Family"
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fn: 16
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---
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Rocco Zangari managed the cardroom of the [[Cabazon Indian Casino]] on the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation]] at [[Indio, California]] from September 1980 until he was discharged in November 1981. [[Cheri Seymour]] wrote that he was a former bookie.[^1] In 1988 he pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges in [[Los Angeles]], and in 1989 a [[Riverside County]] newspaper and a California Attorney General's office official testifying to a [[United States Senate]] committee each described him as an organized crime figure.[^2][^3]
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@ -49,11 +54,11 @@ On or about September 25, 1980, Zangari entered into an agreement to manage a ca
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### Discharge and the bankruptcy case
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According to the appellate panel, Zangari was discharged from his managerial position on November 5, 1981, following legal difficulties between the casino and the City of Indio. A [[Press-Enterprise]] article from January 1988 gives the date as November 15, 1981, and reports that Zangari sued for breach of contract, claiming he was owed $260,000.[^5][^10]
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According to the appellate panel, Zangari was discharged from his managerial position on November 5, 1981, following legal difficulties between the casino and the City of Indio. A [[Press-Enterprise]] article of March 20, 1988 gives the date as November 15, 1981, and reports that Zangari sued for breach of contract, claiming he was owed $260,000.[^5][^10]
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On December 10, 1981, the Cabazon Indian Casino filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The petition was signed by John Paul Nichols as "Project Manager." The January 1988 article gives the casino's debts as $567,577 owed to 45 creditors, and its assets as $123,859, and reports that Nichols said incompetent management caused the downfall of the poker business and that he had admitted a mistake in hiring Zangari as the first manager.[^5][^10]
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On December 10, 1981, the Cabazon Indian Casino filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The petition was signed by John Paul Nichols as "Project Manager." The article gives the casino's debts as $567,577 owed to 45 creditors, and its assets as $123,859, and quotes John Paul Nichols, identified as the Cabazon tribal administrator: "Nichols said incompetent management caused the downfall of the poker business and he has admitted a mistake in his hiring of Rocco Zangari as the first manager."[^5][^10]
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Zangari filed a complaint on January 28, 1982, objecting to the discharge of any amounts the casino owed him under the September 25, 1980 agreement. The casino counterclaimed for damages under the same agreement. On September 22, 1982, the casino moved for summary judgment, arguing that the agreement bound only PN Associates and that, even if it bound the casino, it was void under [[25 U.S.C. § 81]], the federal statute that restricts payments for services relating to tribal lands. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. On December 29, 1983, the appellate panel reversed and remanded, finding a material question of fact about the nature of the debtor and its relationship with the Cabazon Band, and holding that the lower court erred in applying the statute to a partnership that included persons outside its protection. The panel recorded that Zangari admitted he could not expect to collect anything from tribal funds.[^5] The January 1988 article reports that Zangari's claim was dismissed and that he received no money, according to bankruptcy court records. The article also reports that Zangari and Nichols accused each other in court papers of mishandling casino funds for personal profit at the tribe's expense.[^10]
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Zangari filed a complaint on January 28, 1982, objecting to the discharge of any amounts the casino owed him under the September 25, 1980 agreement. The casino counterclaimed for damages under the same agreement. On September 22, 1982, the casino moved for summary judgment, arguing that the agreement bound only PN Associates and that, even if it bound the casino, it was void under [[25 U.S.C. § 81]], the federal statute that restricts payments for services relating to tribal lands. The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants. On December 29, 1983, the appellate panel reversed and remanded, finding a material question of fact about the nature of the debtor and its relationship with the Cabazon Band, and holding that the lower court erred in applying the statute to a partnership that included persons outside its protection. The panel recorded that Zangari admitted he could not expect to collect anything from tribal funds.[^5] The article reports: "Ultimately, Zangari's claim was dismissed and he received no money, according to Bankruptcy Court records." The article also reports that Zangari and Nichols accused each other in court papers of mishandling casino funds for personal profit at the tribe's expense.[^10]
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### Press accounts in 1983 and 1985
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@ -67,7 +72,7 @@ A July 19, 1983 airtel from the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] Los Ange
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An FBI Los Angeles memorandum dated November 5, 1986, titled "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," states that Nichols hired a manager and associates for the parlor, whose names are redacted in the released copy, and that the on-site manager was among those identified as alleged organized crime individuals or associates. It states that information received after the parlor opened indicated that a person whose name is redacted had loaned the Cabazon Band $90,000 toward opening the parlor, that the manager was fired by Nichols and filed a breach of contract suit which he won, and that Nichols maintained the loan had been repaid in full. The memorandum states that John Philip Nichols was arrested by the [[Indio Police Department]] in January 1985 on a murder charge, was convicted, and was serving time in the state penitentiary system. It further states that local bookmakers frequented the bingo and gambling parlor, one of them described as a La Cosa Nostra associate.[^13]
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Neither document names the manager. The other records place side by side with them are these. Zangari's agreement is dated September 25, 1980, and the casino was established in October 1980. He was discharged on November 5, 1981 and sued the casino for breach of contract. The trial court granted summary judgment against him, the appellate panel reversed in December 1983 (after the July 1983 airtel), and the January 1988 article reports that his claim was dismissed and he received no money. The Miami Herald reported a $50,000 loan to John Paul Nichols from Marson's wife in November 1980.[^5][^10][^11]
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Neither document names the manager. The other records place side by side with them are these. Zangari's agreement is dated September 25, 1980, and the casino was established in October 1980. He was discharged on November 5, 1981 and sued the casino for breach of contract. The trial court granted summary judgment against him, the appellate panel reversed in December 1983 (after the July 1983 airtel), and the March 1988 article reports that his claim was dismissed and he received no money. The Miami Herald reported a $50,000 loan to John Paul Nichols from Marson's wife in November 1980.[^5][^10][^11]
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### Senate hearing, February 8, 1989
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@ -81,9 +86,13 @@ The same article describes Zangari as an organized crime figure who managed the
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Welmas wrote to the committee that the Cabazon Band "categorically denies" that its gaming enterprises are controlled, infiltrated or in any way connected with organized crime. His letter, reported by the Press-Enterprise on February 11, 1989, called the testimony "unsubstantiated hearsay" and stated that it made evident that Marty "has no first-hand knowledge whatsoever of the history or the current operation of our bingo parlor or card room." Welmas also noted that the witness had wrongly called the Cabazon reservation a "rancheria."[^14]
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### Southern California Crime Family, 1986
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The California Attorney General's annual report to the legislature, issued in June 1987 and covering 1986, names the [[Los Angeles Crime Family]] as the Southern California Crime Family and lists Peter Milano as its boss, with his brother [[Carmen Milano]] as underboss.[^15] In a discussion of vending machines, the report describes an investigation of [[Piggy's Vending]] in Riverside County. It states that the company's manager, [[Steven Cino]], and Rocco Zangari, who was observed unloading cartons of cigarettes at the business, "also have been identified as members of the Southern California Crime Family."[^16]
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### A Rocco Zangari in the 1998 Las Vegas case
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A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, among them the reputed Los Angeles underboss Carmen Milano, a brother of Peter Milano, and, as "made members," Stephen Cino, Charles Caci and a Rocco Zangari, aged 65. The Las Vegas Sun reported the indictment as a 50-count case that followed a January 1997 killing in Las Vegas; Zangari was not among the six charged in that killing.[^15] On March 10, 2000, a Rocco Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996.[^16] The records found do not establish whether this Rocco Zangari is the former Cabazon cardroom manager. The Las Vegas Sun gives his age as 65 in 1998, and the 1983 Los Angeles Magazine text places an arrest of the Cabazon cardroom manager in 1946.[^8][^15]
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A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 named 16 defendants, among them the reputed Los Angeles underboss Carmen Milano, a brother of Peter Milano, and, as "made members," Stephen Cino, Charles Caci and a Rocco Zangari, aged 65. The Las Vegas Sun reported the indictment as a 50-count case that followed a January 1997 killing in Las Vegas; Zangari was not among the six charged in that killing.[^17] On March 10, 2000, a Rocco Zangari pleaded guilty to supervising other mob members while they sold $75,000 in counterfeit checks to undercover agents in the fall of 1996.[^18] The records found do not establish whether this Rocco Zangari is the former Cabazon cardroom manager. The Las Vegas Sun gives his age as 65 in 1998, and the 1983 Los Angeles Magazine text places an arrest of the Cabazon cardroom manager in 1946.[^8][^17]
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### Footnotes
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@ -94,12 +103,14 @@ A federal racketeering indictment unsealed in Las Vegas on February 2, 1998 name
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[^5]: *Zangari v. Cabazon Indian Casino (In re Cabazon Indian Casino)*, 35 B.R. 124 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. December 29, 1983), BAP No. CC-82-1578-GVAb; Bankruptcy No. SB 81-03397 WH; Adv. No. SB 82-0174-WH. https://static.case.law/br/35/cases/0124-01.json and https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/8517251/zangari-v-cabazon-indian-casino-in-re-cabazon-indian-casino/
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[^6]: *In re Cabazon Indian Casino*, 57 B.R. 398 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. February 5, 1986), BAP No. CC-85-1006-MVAb. https://static.case.law/br/57/cases/0398-01.json
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[^7]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, FD-302 of the interview of Wayne Reeder, October 5, 1992 (transcribed December 9, 1992), file 74-86438, reprinted in the INSLAW Cabazon Wackenhut file, https://archive.org/details/INSLAW-CabazonWackenhunt. Reeder is described as a real estate developer in United States Department of Justice, Office of Professional Responsibility, report of Judge Nicholas J. Bua (1993), https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
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[^8]: *Los Angeles Magazine*, September 1983, pp. 126 ff. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746 (John Philip Nichols), Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^8]: Jan Golab, "Close-Up," *Los Angeles*, September 1983, pp. 116 to 128 (the quoted passage runs from immediately before the page 126 heading to page 128). Reprinted in Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, file 183A-LA-1746 (John Philip Nichols), Section 1. https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^9]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), undated article citing *Los Angeles Magazine*, reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^10]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), January 24, 1988, p. B-1, "Bingo profits rising as legal fight brews," by Andrew Nelson. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^10]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), March 20, 1988, p. B-1 with jump page, "Manager proposes plush Indian casino, club," by Mike Kataoka. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^11]: *The Miami Herald*, May 29, 1983 (series "Seminole Bingo" on Indian bingo and Wackenhut Corporation; the FBI transmittals date installments May 29, 30 and 31, 1983). Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^12]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), 1985, "Cabazon leader scoffs at report." Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^13]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Los Angeles, airtel to the Director, July 19, 1983, "Pan American Management Inc.," file 183-1746; and FBI Los Angeles memorandum, "Crime on Indian Reservation - Gambling," November 5, 1986. Both reprinted in FBI file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^14]: *The Press-Enterprise* (Riverside, California), February 11, 1989, "Indians deny link to crime," by David Boyles. Reprinted in FBI Los Angeles file 183A-LA-1746, Section 1, https://archive.org/details/JohnPhilipNichols
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[^15]: "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
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[^16]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/
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[^15]: California Department of Justice, Bureau of Organized Crime and Criminal Intelligence, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987; Attorney General John K. Van de Kamp), pp. 2-3, "Leadership of the Southern California Crime Family." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
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[^16]: California Department of Justice, *Annual Report to the California Legislature* (June 1987), pp. 19-20, "Piggy's Vending." https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/111070NCJRS.pdf
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[^17]: "FBI deals crippling blow to L.A. mob," *Las Vegas Sun*, February 3, 1998. https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/feb/03/fbi-deals-crippling-blow-to-la-mob/
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[^18]: Kim Smith, "Alleged mobsters plead guilty," *Las Vegas Sun*, March 13, 2000. https://lasvegassun.com/news/2000/mar/13/alleged-mobsters-plead-guilty/
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