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March 15, 1996
Caption: Assistant Prosecutor Frank G. Schemanske, left, Joseph Zerilli, Detective William DeLisle and William "Black Bill" Tocco appear in court in 1931. Zerilli and Tocco allegedly ran Metro Detroit's organized crime family from then until they handed it to their sons in 1979, the FBI says.By Gary Heinlein / The Detroit News Metro Detroit's organized crime family was created in the 1930s by a group of immigrants from the same village in Sicily, and it essentially has remained the domain of men connected to those same families, either as blood relatives or through marriage.
Investigators claim that William "Black Bill" Tocco and Joseph Zerilli helped found it and were its leaders until their deaths in the 1970s.
Tocco allegedly headed the family at one time, and Zerilli allegedly was its boss from about the mid-1960s until around 1979.
Organized crime in Detroit rarely generates headlines and kept a lower profiles than similar groups in other large cities, where disputes often lead to brutal slayings.
Federal officials in 1990 said gambling has been the main source of revenue for the Metro Detroit organized crime family. Bookmaking, numbers and illegal games in private homes and businesses are the chief forms.
Loan-sharking accompanies illegal gambling, authorities say, further victimizing those already hard-hit by gambling losses.
For many years, Tocco and Zerilli lived in a Grosse Pointe Park neighborhood known as "the compound." There, they were insulated from the outside world, including law enforcement.
According to the FBI, the leadership was passed down from "Black Bill" Tocco and Joseph Zerilli to their sons. Tocco's sons, Jack William and Anthony Joseph were among those indicted Thursday. The FBI says that Jack Tocco, 69, and still a Grosse Pointe Park resident, is Joseph Zerilli's successor as boss of the organization.
Both Tocco and the Zerilli long have disavowed any mob connections.
The two men were forced by the state Attorney General's Office to end their stakes in Hazel Park Race Track because of their alleged ties to organized crime.
And the FBI in 1990 said Anthony Tocco, 65, of Clinton Township, is among the "capos" or captains who make decisions with his older brother about operations in Metro Detroit. He is a former Grosse Point Park resident.
Joseph Zerilli's son, Anthony Joseph, also was indicted Thursday. The FBI says Anthony Joseph Zerilli, 68, of Sterling Heights is second-in-command of the organization, or "underboss" to his cousin Jack Tocco.
Perhaps emblematic of the low-key nature of Metro Detroit's organized crime is that its two alleged top men are relatively unscathed. Anthony Zerilli has one conviction and Jack Tocco has been convicted of attending an illegal cock fight 20 years ago.
Zerilli in 1972 was one of two alleged Metro Detroit mob leaders convicted of having a hidden ownership in the Frontier Hotel and casino in Las Vegas. He served 21/2 years in prison.
The other was Michael Polizzi, about the same age, who as recently as three years ago lived in Grosse Pointe and was identified by the FBI as a top captain in Metro Detroit organized crime.