He is wearing a shapeless gray suit with a light brown sweater under the coat to guard against the winter's chill. Though the commission did not go into specifics, its blast at Newark touched off wide spread reaction. In Florida, 83-year-old Luigi "Baby Shacks" Manocchio, who prosecutors say was a longtime Rhode Island mob boss, was arrested and charged with extorting protection payments from Providence strip clubs, including the Satin Doll and the Cadillac Lounge. Participants in the conversation, according to the F.B.I., were Sam the Plumber, Ray the Gyp DeCarlo and Anthony (Tony Boy) Boiardo, Richie's son and heir. Justice Department officials said those charged were connected to all five New York-based crime families: the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese families, along with the New Jersey-based Decavalcante family and New Englands Patriarca crime family. New ark, New Jersey's largest city and only a short truck haul from the thirsting fleshpots of Manhattan, be came virtually the bootleg capital of the Eastern seaboard. I'm also fascinated by Ruggiero Richie The Boot Boiardo. The two cousins were described as being 'inseparable' during the 1960s. "Its plain that law enforcement is drilling down into the lower and middle echelons of what remains of these criminal organizations," remarked Lee Seglem, assistant director of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation. A lot of the New Jersey wise guys who might have had a lot of influence and might have been a lot more powerful just kind of stayed under the radar a bit. In the blackest pit of the Depression, he reached into his bootleg millions and paid the cost of running a soup kitchen for the im poverished in Newark's Military Park. In our schools and col leges, he said, we teach po litical science in terms of defining the powers of vari ous offices and officeholders, the requirements to vote and so forthand all of this is largely irrelevant. I think its the same thing with Sopranos. But it's nothing on the scale of 40 or 50 years ago, when taking kickbacks from made guys was just how mayors got things got done. Follow him on Twitter at@ThomasDMoriarty. The potential began building almost half a century ago from that time to this, to put it bluntly, Newark has been dominated by the moband it is a remarkable and notable fact of life in Newark that no underworld mogul of the first rank has ever suf fered much more than a gentle slap on the wrist from the forces of the law. Throughout the nine teenforties and into the fifties until the Kefauver investi gation threw a wrench into the machinery the Mafia families of New York and New Jersey had run a verita ble capital of crime in nuke's Restaurant, opposite the Pali sade Amusement Park. The Nixon Adminis tration came to office on the cry of law and order and a pledge to fight crime. FRED J. COOK is the author of The Secret Rulers, a study of the organiza tion of the Mafia. To address the elephant in the room, experts and Mafia pundits have joked for years who The Sopranos are really based on, with the DeCavalcante family often described as the obvious answer. And everything that I have seen so far in this office reinforces that conviC tion., WHEN he decided to ac cept the U.S. Attorney's post, Lacey says, he had a firm understanding with Attorney General Mitchell. Essex County Prosecutor Joseph P. Lordi began an 18month grand jury investigation, and state legis lative hearings were held. John "Johnny Coca-Cola" Lardiere, shown at left in this newspaper clipping, was gunned down on Easter morning in 1977 in the parking lot of a motel in Bridgewater. Nicknamed "Jimmy Sinatra," Craparotta had been a "prominent gambling operative" with connections to the Lucchese crime family, investigators said. For one thing, there was still cash in the register when officers arrived. The scuttlebutt of the times was that Longie Zwillman requested just one little favor from gubernatori al candidates who benefited from his largesse the right to name, or at least to approve, the new Attorney General. Lawrence Ricci, an alleged associate of the Genovese family, disappeared in 2005 amid his trial in Brooklyn on a federal racketeering indictment. Relevant instruction in political science today is going to have to be aimed at getting at the roots, at showing and explaining the decaying moral fiber of those who are elected to office, those who are in law enforce ment. Longie and Richie the Boot announced in 1930 that they had composed their differ ences, and just to show how much they loved each other, they threw bash that was to become the talk of Newark. Governor Hughes, who left office Jan. 20, and many legal experts and con cerned citizens have been aroused by this action, ap palled at the damage that may be done to innocent persons through the publi cation of the chitchat of gangsters. That changed in 1988, as Taccetta declared war on Accetturo, and the North Jersey crew split into two factions. La Cosa Nostra diminished over time for a variety of reasons, from better law-enforcement to cultural assimilation to bloody infighting to changing economics. Brennan's remark almost prostrated the New Jersey Legislature, but events were to vindicate the young pros ecutor. Lacey, as a young lawyer, had had one direct and shocking confrontation with bigleague New Jersey crime. The prosecutor is the kind of man who does his pushups every morning to keep in shape. Danielle Sacko. Class of 1988. Here are some of the most notorious instances where organized crime has been blamed for bloodshed in the Garden State: The killing of mobster Dutch Schultz in Newark captured headlines across the country in 1935. Sources later told the Jersey Journal and The New York Times that Ricci may have been killedat the direction of a Genovese boss in New Jersey for refusing to take a plea deal in the case. Over the next 12 months, most of the New Jersey crew members came back to the family. First, he explains, there is one theory that a U. S. Attorney should simply prosecute the cases handed to him by Federal investigative agencies; Lacey thinks a U. S. Attorney should be aggressive and actively develop cases if the situation seems to warrant it. Also charged in the case were Robert Ruiz, 52, of Watchung, Michael Trueba, 75, of Kearny, Ramiro Quintans, 52, of Basking Ridge, Salvatore LaGrosso, 60, of Edison, all on extortion counts. And he also had ties to Frankie Valli, right? On March 19, 2014, Taccetta was released from prison. Martin has since had his release overturned and is serving a life sentence at New Jersey State Prison. A year later, the Essex County Prosecutor's Office charged Anthony DiFrisco with murder in Potcher's killing, alleging he had confessed to accepting $2,500 from a New York organized crime associate named Anthony Franciotti to carry out the shooting. Both Vincent, 78, of West Orange, known as "The Vet," and Edward Aulisi, 51, of Flemington, were charged today with extortion conspiracy. Throughout the drama of Lacey's speech, Angelo DeCarlo sits impas sively, to all appearances the most unflappable man in the courtroom. Law enforcement, Lacey feels, is primarily the respon sibility of the localities and the states; it is not a job for Federal authority alone. his mother still lives in the Vailsburg section of New ark, where he was born and . The late William O'Dwyer, who rode to glory on that expos, con tented himself with sending to the electric chair the expendable strong arms of gangdom; he never touched their bosses, Joe Adonis and the late Albert Anastasia. Boiardo was the flashy Prohibition mobster, complete with a $5,000 dia mondstudded belt buckle. During their trial in Brooklyn federal court, however, Ricci went missing. He had married into society; he knew how to conduct himself like a gentleman, and his heart bled all over his public sleeve for the poor. Police later told reporters they believed Manzo's killing may have been related to illegal business activities separate from his two restaurants, The Star-Ledger reported. Despite the high body count, the arrests were not part of a single, unified operation aimed at a vast conspiracy, and none of the names were well-known. 09/05/14 04:31 PM. Newsmen interviewing Newark residents came up with some who ex pressed shock and indignation, but others were like the man who shrugged his shoulders and said: This has been go ing on for a long time. He later established a similar soup kitchen at a Catholic church. Taccetta graduated from Saint Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark at nineteen years old and attended one semester at Johnson & Wales University School of Business in Providence, Rhode Island. But I had never encountered the broad evidence of corrup tion of public bodies, business and labor unions. Freed after 16 months at Bordentown, the Boot re turned to his old racket leader ship in the First Ward, and he and Longie evidently agreed to divide Newark between them; the law remained bystander. OK, so some of them may have been caught on tape comparing themselves to 'The Sopranos'. [7][8] Taccetta reportedly went on to control the Jersey Crew, while he was serving his sentence in Atlanta.[9][10]. If the younger genera tion and the university groups finally come to the terminal point in their think ing that any government that is so corrupted isn't worthy of survivalthen we who have done nothing to stop this, we who have con sented to the existence of such a system by our inaction, will have only ourselves to blame. He lived in this huge mansion in Livingston, New Jersey, that supposedly had a place where bodies were disposed of, likely his enemies. Moore commit ted the indiscretion of having his pic ture taken with the Boot and his belt buckle. What you might have accomplished in a few years as U. S. Attorney could well be the one thing in your life would be proud of., This conversation with Sutherland, Lacey says, pried my thinking and had a lot to do with changing my mind.. She described Michael to the media upon winning the lottery as an "oil company consultant. As of 2000, Vailsburg had a population of 34,348. While Ricci's three co-defendants ultimately walked away free men, his decomposing body turned up in November 2005 in the trunk of a car in a Union Township, Union County, diner's parking lot. I think part of it too is [that] New York City is a large iconic brand in and of itself. FindNJ.com on Facebook. Authorities say transcripts of secretly recorded phone calls revealed that Edward Aulisi, the son of Vincent Aulisi who became president of Local 1235 after Cernadas was forced to step down five years ago assured a reputed mob boss that the tribute money would continue even after Cernadas left, and actually doubled. Median house prices in Upper Vailsburg, Newark, NJ are $245,683, meaning Upper Vailsburg homes are less expensive than the US median of . According to Russo and DeCarlo, there was an incin erator for human bodies at the rear of the estate, up be hind the Boiardo greenhouse. Nobody was convicted. [citation needed], Michael Taccetta is the cousin of mobsters Michael Perna, and Daniel, Joseph and Thomas Ricciardi. The new administration was Michael Taccetta as the boss of faction, Michael Perna as the underboss and Martin Taccetta as the official consigliere. In that case, Lacey says now, I found conditions shockingand I hadn't con sidered myself at all naive. Virgilio later received a 40-year federal prison sentence on racketeering charges for Helfants killing and two extortion cases. Stunningly, unlike the Mafia Commission Trial, in the case of Taccetta and Accetturo and their associates, all 20 defendants were acquitted on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act predicates, but as the trial was overdue, rivalry developed in the Jersey Crew.[4]. Wire services reported Russo's lawyer and staff at the Harbor Island Spa in Long Branch found the 62-year-old covered in blood and surrounded by stuffed cats and pictures of real ones when they entered his room on April 26, 1979. In bail hearings in Newark before U.S. Magistrate Judge Claire C. Cecchi, the defendants included the elderly and the young, some balding and white-haired, and others in hoodies and sweatshirts. I was struck by Angelo Gyp Decarlo in part because of his relationship to Richard Nixon, which reminds us that politicians like him weren't always so afraid of being up front about this stuff. They're listed with nicknames like "Knuckles" and . At a press conference in the U.S. Attorneys office in Brooklyn, some 25 television cameras and at least 50 newspeople crowded a conference room, where Holder and New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced the arrests, flanked by the U.S. THE story goes back to Prohibition days, to the nineteentwenties. Heres what he had to say. Hes in the movie The Jersey Boys about Frankie Vallihe was one of Vallis early backers. A reputed capo, or captain, of a northern New Jersey crew of the Genovese crime family, Ricci was indicted along with three longshoremen on allegations they had steered contracts from longshoremens health care and welfare funds to companies that benefited mob associates. He died in prison in 1995. After this, Philip Testa found himself boss, but was killed by his underboss Pete Casella. At trial in 1993, prosecutors produced evidence that Craparotta had tried to protect his nephews from being forced to pay extortion money to the mob from their video machine business. Some mobsters came in and killed him right there in the middle of the restaurant. Re: last name in new jersey [ Re: Alfanosgirl ] #800648. Though this shabby industrial city of some 407,000 is estimated to be more than 60 per cent Ne gro and Spanishspeaking, there are many who feel that Imperiale just might win in such a contesta result that would certainly intensify the racial polarization of Newark. Zwillman came out of the Jewish third ward in Newark and really rose to power during Prohibition. If our system is to survive, there must also be people who are willing to fight, willing to op pose, this kind of corrup tion. , See the article in its original context from. One of the main reasons were that Accetturo had promoted his son, Anthony Accetturo, Jr. to reorganize the Jersey crew upon his retirement, which Taccetta had been eager to take over since the early 1980s. But there is nothing cherubic about him now. Vailsburg mobsters As of November 2022, the average apartment rent in Lower Vailsburg is $940 for a studio, $1,024 for one bedroom, $1,319 for two bedrooms, and $800 for three bedrooms. He was sentenced to prison around 1970 and pardoned by President Richard Nixon two years into his sentence. He was head of the Genovese family [in] New York City [and] thats [what hes] associated with. Bergen County authorities later dropped their case against Gravano in the Calabro slaying, and the former mobster was released from prison last year. As recently as 2015, FBI wiretaps and recordings by an undercover agent captured members of the Elizabeth-grown DeCavalcante crime family discussing a plot to kill a rival. As he rose in power, so did a rival, Ruggiero (Richie the Boot) Boiardo. Judge says not so fast Why does N.J. want to get rid of a mob watchdog? TONY BOY: The Boot hit him with a hammer. On July 12 of that year the predomi nantly Negro Central Ward exploded in one of the worst race riots in the nation's history. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Wherever our leads take us, that's where we will go., Says Lacey: The mob can't operate if the law is honest, Lacey believes that the public, so long apathetic about syndicated crime, must be shocked and aroused, must be made to understand that when it places a $2 bet with a bookie or plays the numbers it is feeding the treasury of the underworld and paying for the corruption of its own officials. Those charged in New Jersey were part of an investigation into corruption on the waterfront, and included a number of individuals indicted late last year. On Tuesdays, the council met with some of the top czars of the national syndi cate. Michael is the uncle of Joseph Perna born c.a. AT 48, Lacey was a part ner in the law firm of Shan ley and Fisher. I was struck by Angelo "Gyp" Decarlo in part. Those defendants were charged with collecting "Christmas tribute" money from dockworkers after they received annual year-end bonuses. He was eventually arrested in Miami, Florida. In 1993, the state Attorney Generals Office obtained an indictment against Louis Auricchio, a Genovese family member, accusing him of killing DiGilio to increase his own stature in the organization. Longie Zwillman might come up from Newark; Frank Costello from New York; Meyer Lansky from Florida. The magnitude of the Zwillman operation may be gleaned from official estimates that his mob reaped a $50million bonanza from bootlegging between 1926 and 1931, and that at the peak of its operation it was importing about 40 per cent of the bootleg liquor flowing across the nation's borders. Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso, a man of great fear and reportedly with dozens of murders on his hands, announced his order, "Whack Jersey". After 18 years on death row, the state Supreme Court vacated DiFrisco's death sentence because of what prosecutors described as changes in the appeals process. And so he has proposed a series of remedial laws for New Jersey. EVEN Lacey concedes that the reaction to his probe falls short of the universal cry of outrage he might have wish ed. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. What was interesting about Decarlo was that he was wiretapped at his headquarters, which was known as the Barn, for almost three years between 1961 and 1963. Eight shots in the head. When he reaches an especially dra matic point, he rests his right elbow on a corner of the lectern, his lower arm and pointed finger stabbing at the jury. It is an aluminum file cart, much like the kind used in supermarkets, and it is piled high with some 1,200 pages of white printed transcripts, the product of four years of industrious Federal Bureau of Investigation wiretapping and bugging of the phone and prem ises of Angelo DeCarlo. Of course, back in 1939 the police did not have F.B.I. When Richie recovered, he was sent to prison for 2 years because he had been car rying a gun himself when he was put upon on Broad Street. Then, of course, noth ing happened. He was kind of a well-known character on the nightclub scene in New York and New Jersey. In February 2003, Kuklinski who was already serving 60 years to life for other killings pleaded guilty to murder under a deal with the prosecutors office that saw him receive a 30-year prison term. The party roared into its second sunset and terminated then only because The Newark News had begun to show some interest in the merriment. He has a heavy face a long, sharp nose and a shelving chin; and when he waddles out into the corridor among his waiting henchmen, his lips curve around a big cigar in an almost cherubic smile. Frederick Lacey, a young assistant U. S. Attor ney, inherited the chore of prosecuting both Harold Adonis and Albert Anastasia, and he got convictions against both. In the early 1950s, Morretti was a top member of the Genovese crime family well known for his rumored affiliation with Hoboken-born crooner Frank Sinatra. Major federal busts of the Bonanno and Gambino families earlier this month and the DeCavalcante family in 2015 suggest theres theres still a fair amount of Mafia activity in New York and New Jersey. Amuso is reportedly to have agreed, as Taccetta was now under his wings. Last edited on 18 November 2022, at 16:44, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, "Mob Soldier Caught with 65 Pounds of Pot in Montville, Police Say", "2 Top New Jersey Crime Figures Admit Juror Bribery in U.S. Richie the Boot's private citadel is a great stone mansion (built in part with slabs his wrecking company crews had torn from the old Newark Post Office when it was demolished) that sits upon a wooded plot of several acres in Livingston, N. J. In the subsequent hearings, some high police of ficials testified to Boiardo's estimable character. In that event, City Councilman An thony Imperiale, the karate in structor and white militant in the heavily Italian North Ward, is seen as the probable white candidate against Ken neth A. Gibson, the Negro former city engineer. Far less so is the old bromide that Lacey hears time and again: You are always go ing to have crime and corrup tion. The implicit corollary to that is, of course, So why are you getting so excited about it?. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Rutgers University and a graduate of the Cornell Law School (where he was editor of the Law Review), a lieutenant com mander in the Navy, a former city councilman in Glen Ridge, Lacey had moved at a furious pace to the top of his profes sion and was considered an expert on cases involving aerial and medical law. It goes through the murders, Louie Luciano, Candido Trueba, William Kimbrough. [citation needed], On January 6, 1984, Taccetta was excluded from New Jersey casinos, stemming from his prior convictions in the 1970s. DeCarlo's favor ite racket over the years has been loansharking, and he and three asso ciates are on trial for having tried to collect thousands of dollars week in vigorish Ithe loan shark's term for usurious interest) from Saperstein, allegedly beating him in the process until his face turned purple and his tongue bulged out.. Reality, of course, bore no resemblance to these official pronouncements. Third, it corrupts the business man. His brother Martin then served as acting boss on behalf of Taccetta in the mid-1980s. When a bigtime mobster gets in deep trouble, something almost invariably happens. (Times of Trenton). I saw a lot of [mob activity] going on back then. In an effort to determine the causes of the Newark out break, Gov. In the Garden State, however, the reality of organized crime has often been just as gruesome as fiction. He became known as the Democratic boss of Newark's old Third Ward and his money helped to finance many a state gubernatorial campaign. As Lacey speaks, there reposes in the courtroom behind the prosecu tion table what can only be described as a time bomb. In February 1973, Accetturo was indicted for loansharking and extortion. Most of these are anony mous, but in cases where peo ple are willing to identify themselves we keep their identity absolutely confiden tial, of course. And, capping all, William J. Brennan 3d (the son of the Supreme Court Justice) remarked in a speech in December, 1968, that number of legislators were entirely too comfortable with organized crime. His roots go deep in Newark. His grand father was at one time a Re publican Freeholder in Essex County; his father was New ark police chief for eight years; his mother still lives in the Vailsburg section of New ark, where he was born and went to school. Before the day is out, Judge Shaw will make the transcript public. He was identified as a career criminal offender and an associate of other criminal offenders. Although recognized as an associate of the Gambinos, Taccetta was influenced by his older friend from childhood, Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo, who, at the age of 17, was already recruited by the rival Lucchese crime family, and joined Accetturo's street crew in their North Jersey faction. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. When the bid came from Washington, he went down to the capital to discuss the pro position with Attorney Gen eral John N. Mitchell. An early Jewish organized crime figure, Schultz ran afoul of his criminal associates in 1935 when he asked the mob for permission to kill Thomas Dewey, a famed prosecutor who later would be elected governor of New York. Great memories, Great times.great friends (some gone but will never be forgotten). But suddenly this all changed. THE bloodletting was preceded, as is so often the case in the treacherous quicksands of the underworld, by great show of fraternity. The judge sentenced him to death. Helfant himself was on trial in Trenton at the time on charges he had accepted $700 to fix an assault and battery case a decade earlier, The Star-Ledger reported. Lacey, however, feels that the public good out weighs any possibility of in dividual harm. THE tapes released at De Carlo's trial Jan. 6 add another startling dimension to the picture. [5], With Accetturo out of the way, Michael and Martin Taccetta were reportedly the leaders of the New Jersey faction, as Taccetta started cooperating with the head of the Gambino crime family, John Gotti, through Gambino caporegime, Thomas "Tommy" Gambino. There was another consid eration. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Its like The Godfatherwho was he based on? He specialized in trial work was generally considered brilliant at it and represented some of the largest corporations in the nation in especially diffi cult cases. Trials", "NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING;Jailed Mob Boss Indicted", "Jersey mob soon to get infusion of old blood", New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Exclusion List, La Cosa Nostra State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation 1989 Report The Lucchese/Corallo/Amuso Family, http://www.1010wins.com/Paramount-VP-Heard-on-Wiretap-in-Mafia-Case/1369690, New Jersey Daily Briefing;Jailed Mob Boss Indicted, Jersey mob soon to get infusion of old blood, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Taccetta&oldid=1122628609, Mafia Wiseguys: The Mob that took on the Feds by Robert Rudolph, This page was last edited on 18 November 2022, at 16:44. [6], In the early 1990s, the entire New Jersey faction's administration was put on trial, including the elder Accetturo, who had been imprisoned due to the contract both Taccetta and Amuso had put on his life in the late 1980s. His free use of muscle and a native organizational genius made Zwillman the most important bootlegger on the East Coast. Joseph Cocozza of the Essex County Prosecutor's staff testified, that he and his wife often dined with the Boot and the latter's wife, and he added: We have never con nected him with any gang in our work. The deputy police chief in Newark and the sergeant in charge of the morals squad added their voices to the chorus, testify ing that Richie was simply trying to earn an honest living.. He resembles nothing so much as a simple Italian paisano67 years old, silverhaired, short and stocky, with an impressive paunch. But he wasn't just a gangster, right? Mobsters were rarely inconvenienced in New Jersey, and the state became increas ingly a haven for gangsters. So I got a crowbar this big, Ray. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022). There are people in the Lucchese family and the DeCavalcante family that could fit [the bill] for the characters. It destroys the officeholder, and therefore destroys the confidence of the public in its government and representatives. Amuso hadn't been satisfied with their profit from the New Jersey faction in the late 1980s, as he demanded 50% of both Taccetta and Accetturo's take, which they both refused. He swivels around in his chair at the defense table, turning his back on Lacey with a kind of bored indifference, his tight lips twisted in a hard trav esty of a smile while the cold remote eyes, devoid of any trace of humor, stare out at the courtroom spectators with never a blink. The Vailsburg section of Newark is on a hill which closely aligns with the suburban and park areas outside it. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office eventually fingered notorious Gambino hitman Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski for Calabro's slaying after HBO in May 2001aired a documentary special in which Kuklinski admitted to killing the officer. The path of an underworld chief tain is never smooth, however, and so it was with Longie. While recent organized crime prosecutions in New Jersey have largely focused on offenses likeloansharking,fraud and drug dealing, killings linked by authorities to mob activity have long captured headlines throughout the state. During the last years of the 1980s, Taccetta's faction was much weakened due to increased law enforcement and bad relations with Amuso. U. S. Attorney Frederick B. Laceya commanding 6 feet 4 and 225 pounds, a man who walks at a trotrises and asks Judge Robert Shaw: Your Honor, may I use the lectern? I have so many notes. The judge nods and Lacey wheels the lectern to a spot front and center, before the jury box. Most of the top leadership is now gone. 'Guys like that don't get wiped out in a day.' The longest trial ever in the United States, it went for more than 21 months. In the DeCaval cante tapes, the real story of Richie the Boot, still active at 80, began to emerge. He kind of carried himself with a little bit of sophistication if you look at the way he dressed. It found that an important underlying cause of the 1967 riot was a perva sive feeling of corruption in Newark, and declared: A former state official, a former city official and an incumbent city official all used the same phrase: There is a price on everything at City Hall.. Of course, the DeCavalcante family was caught on an FBI wiretap comparing themselves and certain people in their crime family to Sopranos characters, so I think the DeCavalcantes being a smaller hometown, New Jersey Mafia family kind of mirrors The Sopranos in that sense. Accetturo later relocated his business interests to Miami and Hollywood, Florida, but remained the official chief of New Jersey. Zwillman's under world rivals seemed to meet their Maker in the most gory fashion, but the mob ruler himself was always leagues removed from the awful deed. During the mid-1960s, both Michael and Martin Taccetta started with Accetturo in illegal gambling and loansharking on the orders of Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese.