Anthony Joseph Zerilli
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Anthony Joseph Zerilli | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | March 31, 2015 Weston, Florida, U.S. | (aged 87)
Parent(s) | Joseph Zerilli Josephine Finazzo |
Allegiance | Detroit Partnership |
Anthony 'Tony' Joseph Zerilli (October 24, 1927 - March 31, 2015) was an
After Zerilli was convicted and imprisoned in 1974, his father came out of retirement to lead the organization until his death in 1977, when
Early life and education
Anthony (Tony) Joseph Zerilli was born in
As a teenager, Tony worked at the Detroit Italian-American Bakery in
Hazel Park Raceway and the Spaghetti Palace
In 1949, Zerilli became president of the Hazel Park Racing Association and Track in
Over the next twenty-three years, Hazel Park produced an estimated $15,000,000 a year in revenue, netting an annual profit for its investors of $1,200,000. During this period state law limited pari-mutuel betting to the races run at the track. Although listed as the number one man in the Hazel Park operation, Zerilli is thought to have deferred to his cousin Jack Tocco in business dealings.
Hazel Park was such a financial success that in August 1970 Zerilli, Tocco, and Dominic "Fats" Corrado decided to develop another race track. The three men invested $2,500,000 in 280 acres (1.1 km2) of land in Hollywood, Florida, to construct a second horse racing complex. But the second project, to be called Hazel Park South, was cancelled after Zerilli ran into legal problems in Las Vegas.(See below) Because of his legal difficulties, Zerillli cancelled the Hazel Park South project; in 1972, he and his partners sold the Hazel Park Raceway in Michigan. Zerilli made $780,000 from his 92,634 shares.
With this revenue, Zerilli invested in several other businesses, including the Spaghetti Palace restaurant, established in 1968 near the Macomb Mall in Roseville, Michigan. Zerilli used this restaurant as his headquarters. It continued as a popular venue in Roseville under the direction of Joseph Zerilli, Rosalie Zerilli and Jack Giannosa before closing in the early 1990s.
Trouble in Las Vegas
During the early 1960s, Zerilli began spending a good portion of his time in
Friedman was in the process of developing the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. In 1964, when the Nevada Gaming Commission denied gaming licenses to Zerilli and Polizzi, Friedman agreed to act as a front boss for the two men. But, Friedman was also rejected for a license by the Commission. Zerilli and Polizzi eventually gained access to the casino when the Commission approved former municipal judge Arthur Rooks, from Hamtramck, Michigan; and Irving Shapiro, owner of the Toledo Hotel, as key operators in the Frontier. Friedman later testified that he was set up in the Frontier to oversee the development and financing on orders from Zerilli and other unseen Partnership members from Detroit.
Zerilli was soon forced out of Las Vegas. Friedman had been tried and convicted of cheating the
In 1970, Zerilli was chosen to succeed his father, who had retired, as boss of the Detroit Partnership. His reign lasted until 1974, when he was convicted and sent to prison on charges related to the Frontier Hotel and Casino case. After his son was imprisoned, Joseph Zerilli emerged from retirement to lead the Partnership until his death in October 1977. His nephew Jack Tocco was chosen to succeed Zerilli's father as the new boss. Tony Zerilli was imprisoned until 1979. After returning to Detroit, he took his place as the underboss of the Detroit Partnership alongside his cousin.
The Tocco/Zerilli regime led the Detroit Mafia while keeping out of the news and maintaining distance from law enforcement. But on March 15, 1996, Zerilli, Jack Tocco, and 15 other alleged Partnership members and associates were indicted on a 25-count federal charge of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). They were charged with conspiracy to control illegal gambling within the Detroit area for the previous 30 years, involvement with hidden casino interests in Las Vegas, and alleged involvement with the criminal organization known as the "American Mafia" or "La Cosa Nostra," known to run organized crime in the United States. Zerilli and the rest of the alleged crime family leaders were freed on bail to await trial.
Zerilli's lawyers gained postponement of the trial indefinitely due to his ill health. The trial eventually began in February 1998; on April 29, 1998, the jury returned its verdicts. Anthony Joseph "Jack" Tocco was found guilty on 12 counts, including two counts of racketeering, eight counts of extortion, and two counts of attempted extortion. Zerilli was convicted on several counts, but his lawyers arranged bail and he was free while the case was being appealed. The appeal was heard August 19, 2002, and the court upheld his convictions. Zerilli faced U.S. District Court judge, Lawrence Zatkoff on November 7, 2002, for sentencing.
Zerilli was remanded to prison in late 2002. In November 2007 he was serving the final months of his sentence in a halfway house in the Detroit area, with projected release date April 6, 2008. He was expected to resume leadership of the remains of the Detroit Mafia, one of the original 24 American Mafia crime families that is documented as having controlled organized crime in the United States from the 1930s to the 1990s. Although not as powerful as it was at one time, the Detroit Mafia is believed by state and federal investigators to be one of roughly 10 Mafia crime families in the United States that are highly influential in the American underworld.[citation needed]
One-time boss
By 1964, Zerilli was recognized as the leader of his own unit or "crew" within the Detroit Mafia. The young Zerilli had a heightened status as a mid-level mobster not only within the Detroit underworld, but within the national underworld. The Zerilli family was trying to increase its power over the Detroit underworld, mainly in the areas of gambling and labor racketeering.
Zerilli and various influential underlings were recorded by law enforcement bugs discussing various criminal plots, including gambling operations, kidnapping
Shortly after these tapes were recorded, Zerilli succeeded his father, who retired. After the younger Zerilli was convicted and imprisoned, his father came out of retirement until his own death in 1977. The younger Zerilli was demoted while in prison; his cousin, Jack Tocco, son of Detroit Partnership patriarch, Giacomo "Jack" Tocco, was named as the head of the family. Zerilli was later named as underboss and allegedly remained in this highly powerful position within the organization.
On April 4, 2008, Zerilli was released from federal prison; he was "put on the shelf" or demoted in 2008.
Claims as to the location of the remains of Jimmy Hoffa
Labor leader
The
At the time of Hoffa's disappearance, Zerilli had been in prison after being convicted on charges related to Las Vegas
On June 17, 2013, Detroit media outlets reported that the FBI was in the process of excavating a large tract of the Buell Road parcel in Oakland County.[5][6][7] No remains were found.
Going public
In his interview with Santai, Zerilli said he was "dead broke." He reportedly hired a publicist, launched a website, and discussed plans for an exposé, all unprecedented for such a crime figure.[8]
Family feud
On January 16, 2013, The Macomb Daily reported that Zerilli had spoken about Hoffa not only to create interest in his actions but as a result of a growing rift between Jack Tocco, the head of the family, and him. This may have dated to the early 1970s, when the former partners were involved in business dealings in Detroit and Las Vegas.
Quoted in the Daily's report, former U.S. Attorney Keith Corbett said, “There is a good deal of acrimony between Tony and his cousin, Jack...and the resentment goes both ways."[9]
References
- ^ "Obituary for Anthony Joseph Zerilli at T. M. Ralph Funeral Home Sawgrass/Weston".
- ISBN 1-58642-077-1)
- ^ "I-Team: Detroit Man Says He Can Reveal Where Jimmy Hoffa is Buried". 11 January 2013.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Feds Digging in Oakland Township Searching for Hoffa's Remains". 17 June 2013.
- ^ Authorities hopeful search will turn up Jimmy Hoffa's remains freep.com [dead link]
- ^ [2] [permanent dead link]
- ^ NBC News [dead link]
- ^ "HOFFA: Family feud at heart of recent revelations about the missing Teamster". Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
- Kelly, Robert J. Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0
- Dan E. Moldea, The Hoffa Wars, Charter Books, New York: 1978.ISBN 0-441-34010-5
- Charles Brandt, I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran and the inside story of the Mafia, the Teamsters, and the last ride of Jimmy Hoffa, Steerforth Press, Hanover, NH, 2004. ISBN 1-58642-077-1