William Vito " Black Bill " Tocco (born Guglielmo Vito Tocco ; February 12, 1897 – May 28, 1972) was an Italian-American mobster from Grosse Pointe Park , Michigan and a founding member of the Detroit Partnership of La Cosa Nostra .
13-814: Tocco was born as Guglielmo Vito Tocco in Terrasini , Sicily on February 12, 1897. He was one of seven children born to Giacomo Tocco and Nicolina Moceri. In 1912, the Tocco family immigrated to the United States, and settled in Detroit , Michigan . Tocco became a naturalized citizen after serving in the United States Army during World War I . After returning to Detroit, Tocco joined his cousin Giuseppe Zerilli and Angelo Meli in backing
26-621: A feared Detroit mafioso. Tocco's success in bootlegging earned him respect from Mafia families nationwide. In 1952, his son Anthony Tocco married Carmela Profaci, daughter of Joe Profaci . Due to the ties of his family and widespread respect, he was a major factor in aligning the Partnership with several crime families, including the Profaci crime family in New York. William Tocco’s bloodline reached from New York to Los Angeles just through
39-578: A second corporation, named Hazel Park Racing Association. The track was finished after Bellanca attained money from the syndicate leaders. Hazel Parks success led to a dispute between HPSC's original incorporators and Bellanca's Hazel Park Racing Association. Tocco, Zerilli and Bellanca expanded their interest in horse racing on June 27, 1957, by purchasing the Wheeling Downs Race Track in Wheeling, West Virginia . Tocco spent most of
52-655: Is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Palermo on the island of Sicily in Italy . Terrasini is located 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Palermo at the motorway between Palermo and Trapani , between the mountains and the Gulf of Castellammare near the Palermo International Airport . Terrasini's population works mainly in fishing and tourism. The population triples during
65-676: The Giannola Brothers' bootlegging operations. On August 11, 1920, he was arrested for the murder of Antonio Badalamenti, a Vitale Gang leader killed in retaliation for an attack on Giuseppe Manzello and Angelo Polizzi. The charges were dropped two days later. With Manzello dead, Meli took over the Giannola Gang, renaming it the Eastside Mob, and appointing Tocco and Zerilli as his top aides. After Giovanni Vitale's death on October 2, 1920, Salvatore Catalanotte dominated
78-716: The Sicilian crime syndicate and organized the Pascuzzi Combine - a liquor syndicate consisting of the remaining gangs. With profits made by Tocco and Zerilli's in the Pascuzzi Combine, they purchased the Pheiffer Brewing Co. Pheiffer's assets were then taken over by States Products Co. The company continued producing malt products and did well for around five years, then it was changed to the Pheiffer Products Co. On February 5, 1932, Tocco
91-424: The abbey San Martino delle Scale near Monreale of 24 November 1350 as "terras vocatas li Terrasini". The grottoes in the area of Terrasini were inhabited already in the late paleolithic times. On different sites, tracks of Roman settlers were found. The origin of the town goes back to the late medieval times to a small settlement (called Favarotta) of agricultural workers on the large-scale landed property of
104-457: The family "La Grua Talamanca" from Carini . In the 17th century, fishermen settled at the coast. When the former feudal property was left to the agricultural workers for cultivation, a flourishing agriculture developed around the fishers' village. Modern Terrasini was founded 24 October 1836, when King Ferdinand II issued a decree that the village Favarotta, then considered part of neighboring Cinisi, should be merged with adjoining Terrasini as
117-868: The last nine years of his life in Miami, Florida . On May 28, 1972, he died in Bon Secours Hospital (now Beaumont Hospital) in Grosse Pointe City, Michigan. He was 75 years old and he left behind his wife Rosalia, his children, and 28 grand children. The funeral was held in the Church of the Holy Family in Detroit. He is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery . William Tocco at Find a Grave Terrasini Terrasini
130-538: The marriages of his children. In 1953, Tocco’s daughter, Grace, married Carlo Licata the son of Nick Licata , a former mobster who was ousted by the Detroit Family and was adopted by the Los Angeles crime family headed by Jack Dragna . Furthermore, Tocco’s son, Jack, married the daughter of Angelo Meli, a fellow bootlegger from Detroit. The outfit's involvement with Hazel Park began in 1948 following
143-399: The summer. Bounding communes are: Carini , Cinisi , Partinico and Trappeto . The name Terrasini probably derives from Latin "terra sinus" = "land at the gulf" (the Gulf of Castellamare) or from "terra sinorum" = "land of the bays" due to the strongly curved coastline with a large number of larger and smaller bays. The name was first cited for the region in a letter from the archive of
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#1732787889849156-626: The visit of a local auto dealer, Waldo Andrews to the law office of James Bellanca. Andrews had secured a 30-day option letter to purchase the Hazel Park Stadium Company (HPSC). Andrews then went on to fill Bellanca in with the details of the company plans, which centered around the proposed construction of an automobile or harness racing track in Hazel Park, Michigan . Bellanca started soliciting for investors, who happened to be Tocco and Joe Zerilli, through this they formed
169-903: Was arrested for conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act . Eight days after the raid, a federal injunction closed Pheiffer Products and Meyer Products for alleged wort production. Not long after this arrest, Zerilli and Tocco were barred from participating in the legal beer business by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and were ordered to sell their interest in the Pheiffer Brewing. In 1923, Tocco married Rosalia Zerilli, sister of Joseph Zerilli, and they purchased land in Grosse Pointe Park where they raised their seven children, including Jack Tocco , who would become
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