Anthony Joseph Zerilli - Trouble in Las Vegas

Trouble in Las Vegas

During the early 1960s, Tony began spending a good portion of his time in Las Vegas. He was watching over the Partnerships' investments while seeking new chances to expand the family's influence in that city. Zerilli and Michael Polizzi approached mob "connection man" John "Handsome Johnny" Roselli about buying a casino. Roselli then introduced the pair to Maurice Friedman, a developer and casino owner with a string of arrests dating back to the 1950s. 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 Tony and Polizzi, Friedman agreed to act as a front boss for the two men. However, Friedman was also rejected by the Commission. Tony and Polizzi eventually gained access to the casino when the Commission approved former Hamtramck, Michigan municipal judge Arthur Rooks and Toledo Hotel owner Irving Shapiro 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 Tony and other unseen members from Detroit.

Tony's Vegas excursion was soon ended. Friedman had been tried and convicted of cheating the Friars Club of Beverly Hills, California, and was facing a long prison sentence. In exchange for reduced prison time, Friedman agreed to testify against his Detroit bosses. As a result, Tony, Polizzi, Jack Shapiro and lawyer Peter J. Bellanca were convicted of skimming approximately $250,000 a month from the Frontier for over two years. In 1967, Roselli arranged the sale of the Frontier to billionaire Howard Hughes for $25 million. In 1970, Tony was chosen to succeed his retired father as boss of the Detroit Partnership. His reign began in 1970 and lasted until 1974, when he was sent to prison for the Frontier case. With the imprisonment of his son, Joseph Zerilli emerged from retirement to lead the Partnership until his death in October 1977. Tony Zerilli remained incarcerated until 1979 when he was released from prison regarding his previous dealings in Las Vegas whereupon he immediately took his place as the underboss of the Detroit Partnership alongside his cousin Jack Tocco who had succeeded his father as the new boss.

The Tocco/Zerilli regime lead the Detroit Mafia while keeping out of the news and its distance from law enforcement until March 15, 1996, when alleged underboss Tony Zerilli, his cousin and boss Jack Tocco and 15 other alleged Partnership members and associates were indicted on a 25 count Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act indictment, which included conspiracy to control illegal gambling within the Detroit area over the last 30 years, more involvement with hidden casino interests in Las Vegas and charges related to the defendant's alleged involvement with the criminal organization known as the "American Mafia" or "La Cosa Nostra", which is 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 managed to extend the trial indefinitely for their client due to his ill health. The trial eventually began in February 1998 and on April 29, 1998, the jury came back with their verdicts. Anthony Joseph Tocco was found guilty on 12 counts including two counts of racketeering, eight counts of extortion and two counts of attempted extortion. His lawyers were able to keep Tony Zerilli free on appeal until August 19, 2002, when his case came to trial and his convictions were upheld. Zerilli faced U.S. District Court judge, Lawrence Zatkoff on November 7, 2002, for sentencing.

Tony Zerilli was remanded to prison in late 2002 and as of November 2007, he is serving the final months of his sentence in a halfway house in the Detroit area. His projected release date is April 6, 2008. "Tony Z." will once again be free to lead what remains of the Detroit Mafia, one of the original 24 American Mafia crime families that controlled organized crime in the United States from the 1930s to the 1990s. The Detroit Mafia does not have the criminal, business and political power and influence it once held, but local and federal authorities agree that the Detroit Partnership is one of roughly 10 Mafia crime families left in the United States that still maintain a great deal of influence within the American underworld and Zerilli family name carries a great deal of respect within that world to this day.