Joseph Zerilli
Named in 1951 Kefauver testimony as a partner with William Tocco in the State Products Co., described in a 1958 McClellan Committee list as an associate of Pete Licavoli, and named in 1963, by a newspaper account the FBI summarized, among five Detroit 'dons'.
- Aliases
- Joe Zerilli, Joe Zerrilli (1951 transcript spelling)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records and the filed newspaper pages state.
On the record
- 1951-02-09 — Kefauver Committee, Detroit: William Tocco named "Mr. Zerrilli" among his partners in the State Products Co.; asked "Is that Joe Zerrilli?" he answered "Yes." His attorney said the partners were in the company from about 1927-1929 until repeal.
- 1951-02-08 — Kefauver Committee, Detroit: asked "What about Tony Zerilli? Is he any relation to Joe Zerilli?" Carl Renda answered "Yes." Counsel noted "a full-page ad of Joe Zerilli" in a 1949 dance program and asked whether he was a numbers operator; Renda said he did not know. That was counsel's question, not a finding.
- 1958-07-01 — McClellan Committee, Part 32: the committee's printed list of Apalachin contacts reads "Zerilli, Joseph (Detroit): Associate in various rackets of Pete Licavoli et al." Investigator George H. Martin testified that Pete Licavoli's wife's sister "is married to Sam Zerilli who is in turn the brother of Joe Zerilli."
- 1958-08-01 — McClellan Committee, Part 35: asked whether Lafayette Motors had formerly been owned by Zerilli, Vincent H. Meli said "Joe Zerilli? ... Not that I know of."
- 1963-10-10 — An FBI Detroit report page summarizes a Detroit Free Press article of 11 October 1963: Police Commissioner George Edwards testified before the McClellan subcommittee and "named JOSEPH ZERILLI, JOHN PRIZIOLA, ANGELO MELI, PETER LICAVOLI and WILLIAM TOCCO as being 'the dons.'" This is the FBI's summary of a newspaper's account of testimony.
- 1963-10-10 — Named on the 1963 subcommittee chart: the "Ruling Council" band of Exhibit 18, "The Mafia Organization in the Detroit Area," presented by Detroit Police Commissioner George C. Edwards, carries a name plate for Joseph Zerilli. A chart label, not a finding.
The family and role fields are empty because no record filed here states a role for Joseph Zerilli in its own voice. The committee list and the investigator’s chart describe associations and marriages; Commissioner Edwards’s “dons” testimony reaches this archive only as the FBI’s summary of a newspaper report. No filed record gives his birth or death.
The Sixth Circuit’s 2000 opinion in United States v. Tocco recounts testimony that “defendant Zerilli was the leader before” Jack Tocco. The opinion’s first footnote names the Zerilli who was a defendant as Anthony J. Zerilli, so that passage is not attached to this page; it is quoted on the record of the opinion.
Records
itemKefauver Committee, Detroit: testimony of William Tocco (9 February 1951)William Tocco, with his attorney Walter Schweikart, testified at Detroit about his family, his businesses and the State Products Co., named 'Joe Zerrilli' among its partners, and answered 'Yes' when asked whether he had been a bootlegger during Prohibition.itemKefauver Committee, Detroit: Carl Renda and the 1949 dance program (8 February 1951)Questioned about the program of a November 1949 dance he presided over, Carl Renda told committee counsel that Tony Zerilli is related to Joe Zerilli, that he believed Jack Tocco is a son of 'Black Bill' Tocco, and that he did not know who Tony and Bill 'Giacolone' were.itemKefauver Committee, Detroit: testimony of Peter Licavoli (8 February 1951)Peter Licavoli, born in St. Louis, declined on self-incrimination grounds to state his occupation or answer about a Detroit police record read into the hearing, and identified Sam Zerilli as his brother-in-law.itemMcClellan Committee: investigator George H. Martin on the Detroit intermarriage chart (1 July 1958)In the committee's 'Mafia' hearings, investigator George H. Martin explained a chart of intermarriages to chief counsel Robert F. Kennedy and named Detroit men he said were 'interrelated through various marriages'; the committee's printed list of Apalachin contacts adds Detroit entries.itemMcClellan Committee: Vincent H. Meli on the Detroit linen and overall supply business (1 August 1958)In hearings on the linen and overall supply industry in the Detroit area, Vincent H. Meli testified about financing his Star Coverall Supply Co. with loans from his father-in-law Sam Perrone and from Anthony Tocco, and said Lafayette Motors had been owned by Jack Tocco.
itemFBI Detroit report page summarizing Commissioner George Edwards's McClellan testimony (October 1963)A page of a Detroit report in the Giacalone file summarizes a Detroit Free Press article of 11 October 1963: Police Commissioner George Edwards had told the McClellan subcommittee that the Detroit area was controlled by a five-man 'council' whose members were called 'dons'.
itemExhibit No. 18: "The Mafia Organization in the Detroit Area"Detroit Police Department fold-out chart presented on October 10, 1963: a "Ruling Council," "The Big Men," and lower tiers, with photographs, a relationship legend and a criminal-activity code.
itemFBI Detroit report page summarizing Commissioner George Edwards's McClellan testimony (October 1963)A page of a Detroit report in the Giacalone file summarizes a Detroit Free Press article of 11 October 1963: Police Commissioner George Edwards had told the McClellan subcommittee that the Detroit area was controlled by a five-man 'council' whose members were called 'dons'.itemExhibit No. 18: "The Mafia Organization in the Detroit Area"Detroit Police Department fold-out chart presented on October 10, 1963: a "Ruling Council," "The Big Men," and lower tiers, with photographs, a relationship legend and a criminal-activity code.