Record
Court opinion
2000-01-05
CourtListener (Free Law Project), text of the opinion
United States v. Tocco, 200 F.3d 401 (6th Cir. 2000)
Sixth Circuit opinion of January 5, 2000 affirming Jack W. Tocco's convictions on two RICO conspiracy counts and a Hobbs Act conspiracy count from the 1996 Detroit indictment, and vacating his sentence of twelve months and one day.
- Date
- 2000-01-05
- Kind
- court-opinion
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Docket
- Nos. 98-2312, 98-2426, 99-1003 (6th Cir.); 200 F.3d 401; district court No. 96-80201 (E.D. Mich.)
- Rights
- Opinion of a United States court. Works of the federal judiciary are in the public domain in the United States. The text was read on CourtListener.
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, argued June 11, 1999, decided January 5, 2000, on appeal from the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit, No. 96-80201, Judge John Corbett O’Meara (as printed in the slip opinion; a second CourtListener copy, opinion 2969271, carries that header).
The court summarizes the case: “On March 14, 1996, Tocco was charged in a twenty-five (25)-count indictment along with sixteen (16) co-defendants on charges relating to the activities of a group called ‘Cosa Nostra,’ also known as ‘the Outfit’ or, as is known to the general public in the United States, ‘the Mafia.’” It continues: “The indictment herein alleged that Tocco had been involved in the Detroit branch of the national Mafia organization, and that he had been the ‘Boss of the Detroit Cosa Nostra Family’ since about 1979.” Those are the indictment’s allegations as the court recites them. Footnote 1 names the six defendants tried together: Jack W. Tocco, Anthony J. Tocco, Anthony J. Corrado, Anthony J. Zerilli, Nove Tocco and Paul Corrado, and adds: “Before testimony was taken, Zerilli’s case was severed due to health reasons.”
Trial began on January 27, 1998. On April 29, 1998 the jury convicted Tocco on the two RICO conspiracies and the Hobbs Act conspiracy and acquitted him on ten counts of extortion or attempted extortion. On November 13, 1998 the district court sentenced him to “twelve months and one day in prison.” In discussing the evidence, the court recounts testimony by Angelo Polizzi about what his father, Michael Polizzi, had told him: “Polizzi stated that Tocco had been the leader since 1979, and that defendant Zerilli was the leader before him. All were related by blood or marriage.” That is a witness’s account of another man’s statements, as the court summarizes it.
The court concludes: “we AFFIRM Tocco’s convictions for the reasons explained above, but VACATE his sentence and REMAND for resentencing.” The opinion does not use the name “GAMTAX” or “Detroit Partnership.”