Notorious figures
Jack Tocco
1926–2014 · boss of the Detroit Partnership (1979–2014)
Grosse Pointe Park-raised son of William Tocco and nephew of Joseph Zerilli who led the Detroit Mafia for decades while holding extensive legitimate businesses.
- Born
- Died
- Birth name
- Giacomo William Tocco
- Detroit years
- 1926–2014
- Field
- Notorious figures
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Giacomo William Tocco, known as Jack, was born in 1926 to William Black Bill Tocco and Rosalie Zerilli, uniting the two families that founded the Detroit Partnership. He grew up in the upscale Windmill Pointe section of Grosse Pointe Park and graduated in finance from the University of Detroit in 1949. In 1952 he married Maria Meli, the daughter of consigliere Angelo Meli. Groomed for leadership, he took charge of the Detroit Partnership in 1979 after the death of his uncle Joseph Zerilli, and he kept a low public profile while building legitimate holdings in commercial real estate, including property in Warren. In 1970 he was convicted in a horse-doping case at Hazel Park Raceway, widely covered by the Detroit papers. A federal racketeering indictment of Detroit's Mafia leadership in 1996 led to his conviction; supporters including former Tigers manager Sparky Anderson wrote on his behalf, and in 1998 he was sentenced to about a year in a federal medical prison. He died in 2014.
Highlights
- Boss of the Detroit Partnership from 1979
- Son of William Tocco and nephew of Joseph Zerilli
- University of Detroit finance graduate (1949)
- Convicted in a 1990s federal racketeering case