News

Alleged mafia boss Jack Tocco, 16 leaders indicted by grand jury for extortion, obstruction of justice

Calling it their biggest case since New York crime boss John Gotti, federal authorities on Thursday swept up 17 alleged Metro Detroit Mafia leaders, including reputed crime boss Jack William Tocco and most of his lieutenants. "We believe we've driven a stake through the heart of La Cosa Nostra," said FBI agent Joseph Martinolich Jr., of the crackdown on organized crime.

Reputed leaders of Metro Detroit's organized crime family

The following men were arraigned Thursday by federal officials: Jack William Tocco, 69 Grosse Pointe Park Graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1949 from the University of Detroit. Neatly tailored and well-spoken, he's retired, but formerly was vice-president and an owner of Hazel Park race track.

Busting the Mob: Detroit's organized crime has roots in Sicilian village

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.

Atty. Gen. Reno praises feds for arrests

U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno in her weekly briefing Thursday in Washington singled out Thursday's arrest in Detroit for praise. Among her remarks: "Arrests began last night to take out the entire leadership of the Detroit La Cosa Nostra. Nine of the 17 defendants are accused of committing over a 30-year period numbers of acts of violence, extortion and racketeering.

Mob glossary

Cosa Nostra: A clandestine criminal organization whose chief participants usually become part of the operation by virtue of family ties; The Outfit; Mafia. The boss: The elected head of the Cosa Nostra, its operations manager in a city. According to the FBI, the Metro Detroit boss since 1979 has been Jack William Tocco, 69, of Grosse Pointe Park.

Charges filed in the indictment

Jack William Tocco, 69, of Grosse Pointe Park * Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act (two counts) * Extortion, attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion (12 counts) Anthony Joseph Zerilli, 68, of Sterling Heights

Family ties

Here is how some of those arraigned Thursday are related to each other: Jack William Tocco, brother of Anthony Joseph Tocco Anthony Joseph Zerilli, uncle to Nove Tocco Tony Giacalone, brother of Vito William Giacalone Anthony Joseph Tocco, brother of Jack William Tocco

Previous probes

There have been several major investigations of organized crime in Metro Detroit in recent years. * The federal government in 1992 said it made significant inroads into organized crime when four Macomb County people were indicted on charges of operating a nationwide gambling operation at the Wolverine Golf Course.

East side suburbs home to most of those indicted

Rumors of Mafia influence have abounded for years on Metro Detroit's east side -- whispers of mob involvement in garbage contracts, golf courses, race tracks and construction contracts. Well, there might be something to it. Of the mob indictments handed down Thursday, 13 of 17 were for men with an east side suburban address.

Cops' antics may ruin topless raid

A raid and arrest of more than two dozen topless dancers and customers at a Detroit bar may not generate any convictions because of allegations that police took "cheesecake" photos of the dancers while they were in custody. The matter, now the subject of a police Internal Affairs investigation, began with a report on March 1 claiming that dancers at Trumps on Eight Mile were performing lap dances for customers with physical contact exceeding the limits of Michigan's strict new case law.

'Nightmare' on I-75 at Ohio border begins

Detour signs are advising motorists to avoid I-75 near the Ohio border, where two years of roadwork starts tying up traffic today. The Ohio Department of Transportation is adding a third lane and new lights to each side of the freeway around Toledo in that area's largest-ever highway reconstruction project. Work started just after midnight, reducing northbound and southbound traffic to one lane each for about two miles on Ohio's side of the border.

44 women arrested in rally at News

Police arrested 44 women for blocking a Detroit News garage at a rally Thursday backed by the National Organization for Women. They were among about 350 demonstrators who swarmed Third Street between Lafayette and Fort around 4 p.m., closing the street to traffic.

List of protesters who were arrested

The women came to be arrested, and some of them smiled as they were hauled away. Among 44 arrested in a strike rally Thursday at The Detroit News was Detroit City Councilwoman Sheila Murphy Cockrel, former Detroit school board member Gloria Cobin and former state Sen. Lana Pollack of Ann Arbor.

State closes 3 waste sites in Detroit, Macomb

LANSING -- Three unlicensed waste disposal sites in Wayne and Macomb counties have been closed by the state Department of Environmental Quality, department Director Russell Harding said Thursday. Harding said the sites have been accepting demolition debris for processing and have allowed large amounts of solid waste to accumulate. He said that presents a potential threat to public health.

Snead broke law with ad to promote new stadium

Detroit Public Schools Supt. David Snead violated state law when he hit the airwaves last week on the district's tax-supported radio station to promote next week's proposal to build a new Tiger Stadium. "Public funds cannot be used to promote ballot proposals or candidates," explained Bradley Whitman, information director for the state's elections bureau.

DNR breaks up statewide poacher ring

After a two-year undercover investigation, Michigan game officers have broken up a statewide ring of poachers trapping wild hares and rabbits to train beagles. Conservation officers with the Department of Natural Resources said they charged 34 people in 18 counties with a total of 93 violations. Most charges involved the illegal possession and sale of live hares and rabbits, the DNR said. Officers went to the homes of suspects late Wednesday and issued misdemeanor citations.

Group tries to save kids' lives

Eight-year-old Bernadit Jalal has a hole in her heart. Six-year-old Yokhana Nano will die if doctors don't reconstruct his rib cage. Both children left Metro Detroit on Thursday for Texas to complete a 16-month odyssey from the United Nations-protected zone in northern Iraq for lifesaving surgery not available in their economically devastated homeland.

Drivers' ed bill takes skid in Senate

LANSING -- A bill aimed at toughening drivers' education for teen-agers has stalled in the Senate because a handful of Republicans don't want to require state subsidies for needy teens' instruction. "Obviously, if they're in desperate (financial) straits, they don't need to be driving a car anyway," said Sen. Joel Gougeon, R-Bay City. "That's not a need; it's a privilege."

2 Oakland school bus drivers suspended

Two longtime Oakland County school bus drivers have been suspended without pay after one left a young boy asleep on a bus and another dragged a girl down the street by her mitten. Sandra Lynn Moore, a Waterford school bus driver since 1984, was issued a ticket for careless driving and suspended without pay for the remainder of the school year, police and school officials said.

Briefly

Detroit Owners of Millender negotiate debt plan Owners of the cash-strapped Millender Center, which owes the city's Downtown Development Authority $41.9 million, have reached a tentative agreement to refinance its debt, DDA officials say. Under the deal, the project owned by Millender Center Associates would receive a five-year extension on a letter of credit from Sumitomo Bank.

Muslims plan seminar to enlighten public about faith

On a recent Christian television program, a minister referred to Islam as "a sort of religion." Such a remark is hurtful to the more than 100,000 Muslims in Metro Detroit, said Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi, religious leader of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn.

Police use videotapes to link pair to 15 armed robberies

The videotapes did them in. Brian Whitehead, 39, of Plymouth, and Albert Dubenko, 41, of Detroit, got their mugs captured on video and were arrested for their part in up to 15 armed robberies in western Wayne County, said Sgt. Scott Fetner of the Westland Police Department.

Faith Calendar

Upcoming events in Metro Detroit religious communities include: Today * Grosse Pointe Memorial Church: Mind, Body, Soul Refreshed Men's Breakfast with speaker, Bishop J. Philip Wahl, 7:30 a.m., first time is free, following breakfasts are $4, 16 Lake Shore, Grosse Pointe. (313) 882-5530.

Cable company tears up lawns, homeowners say

Bill Krueger has spent a small fortune landscaping his exclusive Northville home. Now he may have to spend another bundle of cash repairing damage to his lawn and driveway from workers laying new fiber-optic cable lines. "Maybe everyone else is delighted or tickled to have their yard torn up," said Krueger, a Ford Motor Co. executive with a custom home in the Pheasant Hills subdivision north of Eight Mile Road. "But I'm not."