Of all the powerful figures associated with organized crime in Detroit, one name and face came to represent the power and mystic of the outfit. That name was Tony Giacalone. No one will ever forget the glowering imagine of Giacalone as he stormed in and out of the proceedings looking into the disappearance of former IBT President Jimmy Hoffa during the mid '70s. Nor will anyone who fell into the icy blue stare that Giacalone transfixed upon those who met his disfavor forget the shear terror he was capable of instilling deep within ones gut. The passing of Tony Jacks on February 23, 2001 at the age of 82 brought to close an era.
From The Street
Anthony Joseph Giacalone was born on the Eastside of Detroit to Giacamo (Jacob) and Antoinette (Antonia) "nee Ciramitaro" Giacalone on January 19, 1919. As the oldest of the seven Giacalone children, young Anthony spent alot of time helping his father sell vegetables from the back of his horse drawn wagon in Indian Village. Thankful yet unimpressed by the meager living his father was able to provide for the family, Tony fancied the expensive clothing and large wads of cash he saw men of the underworld flash as they made their way around town. In a city flush with illicit activity as well as countless gangsters and racketeers, Tony had to look no further than his fathers relative Sam Catalanotte who was king of Detroit's Italian underworld through most of prohibition for an example of how to make crime pay. Giacalone hit the streets and quickly made a name for himself with the police when at the age of eighteen he was charged with stripping cars. Young Tony escaped prosecution the next day when the charges were dropped. The same notation is made on his arrest record later that year when authorities brought fourth a charge of rape. 16 months later the young hood was arrested and charged with felonious assault. This charge as well as an arrest which was logged simply as picked up for investigation went the way of the previous cases. Tony's criminal actions took on a more serious nature and he was arrested in August of 1941 for investigation of armed robbery. Once more the lucky young hood escaped prosecution. By this time at the age of 22, Giacalone had been picked up 5 times and had spent a total of 3 nights behind bars. His success in escaping the charges brought fourth in these matters indicates one of two things, he was extremely shrude and lucky or he was receiving help from someone in the outfit. Tony managed to keep his nose clean for nearly six years untill he was picked up and charged with conspiracy to violate the State Gambling Law on February 19, 1950. By this time, Tony was making his living as a pickup man in the numbers racket for Peter Licavoli and a collector of outstanding gambling debts on behalf of Joe Zerilli. Both of these men were powerful figures in the underworld and their backing undoubtably played apart in the dismissal of the charges against Tony 4 days later. As Tony's involvement in Detroit gambling increased so did the interest local cops had in him. As quickly as the arrests for petty crimes had ceased, they began to pick up again as he made the rounds of the top gambling spots in the motor city. As expected, Tony's frequent prescence within these illegal gambling clubs brought him into frequent contact with the police and he was hauled in a total of 5 times between February 1950 and November 1952. In each instance the charge was related to gambling including one case which charged him with operating a football pool.
Moving Up
The fact that Tony Giacalone was an up and comer in the Detroit underworld was well established by his association with many of the top syndicate figures of the day, but his arrest on charges of bribing a police officer served notice to the general public that Tony Giacalone was indeed a man of connections. The leaders of the Detroit outfit were notorious for corrupting public officials and Tony's attempt to bribe an officer showed that he was serving as an apprentice to someone well versed in the ways of the outfit. The case filed August 9, 1954 would end Tony's unblimished record resulting in his first conviction in 14 arrests. Giacalone was sentenced to 8 months in the Detroit House of Correction and ordered to pay $500 in court costs by Judge Ide on February 2, 1955. Judge Ide then ordered Giacalone released on time served. The up and coming mobster had served nearly 6 months in jail awaiting the completion of his case. The fifties closed with Giaclone serving another 7 days in jail for refusing to testify before a one man grand jury looking into gambling in the motor city.
Giacalone's Ties To The NFL
With all of the attention focused on gambling and organized crime during the fifties with the Kefauver Hearings and later the grand jury investigation in Detroit, Tony Giacalone was well on his way to becoming a top ranking figure in the underworld. Unknown to the general public at the time, Tony's influence was wide spread as he and his brother Vito played important roles in the gambling operations conducted on behalf of the outfit in Detroit and across the Ohio border in Toledo. This fact was well known to Detriot police officers who watched the Giacalone brothers load up what was known as the party bus in the early mourning hours of August 18, 1962 in anticipation of a gamblers road trip to Cleveland where the Detroit Lions were to play the Dallas Cowboys in a preseason game in Cleveland. The trip which started at the Grecian Gardens, a popular restaurant and nightclub opened by Pete Corrado a notorious gambler and gunman. Corrado had died of a heart attack several years earlier but the restaurant as well as his gambling interests had carried on under the direction of his sons Dominic and Anthony Corrado. The surveillance spotted notorious figures such as Anthony Zerilli, Carl Thomas "a convicted murderer," Sam Giordano "bodyguard for Mike Rubino," Peter Vitale "a suspect in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa years later," Joseph Zerilli and both of the Corrado boys along with Wayne Walker who was a starting linebacker for the Lions. The group left the Grecian Gardens at 4:10 A.M., and arrived an hour and fourty minutes later at the Bunk House Cafe in Toledo, Ohio. The bunkhouse was known to be connected to the hub of gambling in Toledo which was owned by local hood Ray Gentile. After 4 hours of watching the caravan of the party bus and the Station wagon owned by Walker, the bus was pulled over and attempted to officially identify all of the 16 people on board but were only successful in getting the driver of the bus to show his identification. After all of the trouble of sitting in the dark for hours the only person identified was Vito Giacalone the younger brother of Tony Jack. Authorities later learned that in addition to the gamblers in the Giacalone bus, they were joined on the return trip by Lions stars Alex Karras, John Gordy and Darius McCord. This trip led to an investigation of gambling by NFL players which turned up a partnership between Karas and Jimmy Butsicaris in the Lindell Bar. It was also stated that several Lions Players were heavy gamblers and often associated with the Giacalones. No charges were filed against the Giacalones but Tony Jacks did become something of a marked man.
Another Bribery Case
With things heating up under the Kennedy administration for gamblers and members of organized crime. Anthony Giacalone attempted to free things up in Detroit as the local cops began hitting the numbers racket and other gambling games hard. By this time, Tony Jack was incharge of making sure things ran smoothly and in carrying out his duties he was recorded offering a bribe to Detroit Police Sgt. Jim Thomas. The transcripts of the phone read as such. Giacalone begins "You've heard of me." to which Thomas replies "I don't know if I've heard of you or not." Giacalone counters with, "Yeah, you've heard of me. You've heard if Tony Gicalone." Once the investigation had been brought fourth for trial, Tony Jacks stood charged with offering to pay Thomas $50 per month to take the heat off of the numbers operators. The case would later fall apart and Giacalone would be vindicated. A later investigation overheard Giacalone boasting to a friend that he had the case dismissed by Judge Joseph Gillis Sr., with a payment of $10,000. The go between in the case was said to be none other than James Riddle Hoffa.
The Battle With Pete Licavoli
While Tony Giacalone's star was rising within the outfit, Pete Licavoli was battling the federal government over unpaid taxes. Licavoli was one of the founding members of the Detroit outfit and a key figure in the gambling community. During Pete's jail stay during the late '50s, Joe Zerilli began relying heavily on Tony to collect his cut of the action. This increased Tony's importance in the underworld to the point where he came to be viewed as Zerilli's voice on the street. When Joe decided to retire in the early '60s, the he passed the torch to his only son Anthony who became Tony Jack's immediate supervisor. The retirement founding fathers Joe Zerilli, Angelo Meli and Bill Tocco provided the second generation of outfit members the oppurtunity to advance. One of the last of the old timers was Pete Licavoli. Licavoli had fought and killed and organized bootlegging and later gambling for the outfit. The Licavoli faction led the charge for the outfit into Las Vegas, Arizona and held considerable influence in the state of Ohio. Pete was backed by Michael Rubino a known killer who's involvement in outfit affairs dated back to the mid '20s. Both of these men had been instrumental in the rise of Tony Jack through the outfit but he was standing in the way as far as the newcomers were concerned. On December 4, 1963 a bug planted by the FBI in the ceiling of the Home Juice Company headquarters for the Giacalone enterprises caught a conversation between Tony Zerilli and the Giacalone brothers in which Tony Jacks voiced his anger over the problems with Pete Licavoli. Tony starts one tirade with, "Yeah well why does he feel he is bigger than anyone else?...Why?...Whats he done?." Giacalone continued, "I don't think he is any better than anyone else." Tony Zerilli tries to maintain his stance without showing any favortism. Tony goes on to make the statement "He aint even one of use," in reference to the fact that Licavoli was apparently made into a family in St.Louis before he migrated to Detroit. The transcript ends with Zerilli promising to take the matter up with his father and Papa John Priziola. The only two commission members still active with the power to rule on a matter concerning Licavoli. The outcome of the matter was never resolved on the tapes but a second more serious matter also covered concerned an assassination plot involving Tony Giacalone against Santo Perrone along time outfit member with a history of difficulty following conventinal mob rules. Perrone's connections and seniority in the underworld led members of the original ruling council to allow him some space in conducting his affairs but Tony Zerilli and the young turks wanted everyone to fall in line and show the proper respect for his position. When Perrone refuses and continued to conduct business as usual, Zerilli sat back and Tony Jack went to work. On January 19, 1962 67 year old Santo "Sam" Perrone jumped into his Pontiac which he had left sitting outside of AAA autowash on Gratiot Ave., located in the heart of an area in which he had been a prominent figure for years. Perrone turned the ignition and the subsequent blast destroyed the car along with Sam's right leg. Investigators knew as soon as the bombing occured that Tony Giacalone was responsible for the attack due to evidence gathered from the bug at Home Juice Co., but could do nothing for the bugs were illegal and therefore of no use when making arrests. Authorities learned that Nick Ditta was the man who planted the bomb and had done so after speaking with Peppino "Joe Zerilli's nickname," and Mr John "reference to John Priziola." Four months after Perrone survived the initial attack, Giacalone met with Ditta and Tony Zerilli and discussed a second plot on Perrone which called for a team of shooters to follow Perrone the first time he left his home where he was under guard from the Detroit Police. The assasination plot against Perrone was nixed after the old mobster was hospitalized for cancer from which he never recovered.
Extra Curricular Activities
In addition to his gambling and enforcement duties, Tony Jacks was also ran a large scale loansharking operation. All of these duties kept him very busy but he found time to mix in a little pleasure from time to time. In fact Tony maintained a very busy social calender meeting with other syndicate leaders to play golf on a daily basis. These appoinntments were kept during the winter months when the partners travelled to Palm Springs or Miami to tee it up. Giacalone was also fond of new clothes and cadillacs. Tony's love of new things may have been a result of growing up so poor. He was known to send several thousand dollars on new toys in a very short period. He once commented to his brother Vito "Now, I got these new Pontiacs, one for my son and one for my wife... I got the new Cadillac...All three cars within 16 days...They cost $16,000." Inspite of three new cars and an upscale residence in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, Tony Jack still could not buy the respect of certain people. He once complained that two of his children had been turned down for admittance into St. Ambrose Catholic School. School officials notified the Giacalones that the school just did not have the room for their kids but Tony knew better, this was something underworld figures had faced somany times before. To test the legitmacy of the schools claim, Tony had his sister Grace call and check on space for her children. When the num called back and said they would be happy to have her kids enroll Tony's suspicions were confirmed. The kids were made to suffer for the sins of the father. Inspite of his notorious reputation for brutality, the bugs picked up a kinder side of Giacalone when his young son Joseph visited his office oneday. The young boy is heard gushing over his father to a friend who accompanied him, "Daddy never gets nervous, thats why he is a successful businessman, he doesn't chicken out." Tony is heard admonishing his son, "A man is not supposed to chicken out son...A man who chickens out has no backbone behind him."
Sylvia
Tony Jack began courting Sylvia Paris in 1963. Sylvia had a long history of romantic daliances with members of the outfit dating back to the 1940s when she was the girlfriend of Frank Copolla. Sylvia carried on an affair with James Hoffa while befriending his wife Josephine, leading her into an affair with Tony Cimini a mobster known as Tony Long. For the seven years that Paris was involved with Giacalone, she entertained him almost daily. The pair met shortly after her second husband John Paris an official in the Laundry Workers Union died in 1957. She stated she met him one month later and the relationship blossomed. According to Sylvia, their was nothing Tony would not do for her with the exception of leaving his family. He was her companion and protector, she set up meetings with Jimmy Hoffa. In the arrangement Sylvia got little more than a good time and a occassional allowance which she used to pay her living expenses. During the affair, Tony began influencing Sylvia's son Chuckie who had been raised as a second son to Hoffa but was in constant conflict with Hoffa's natural son Jimmy Jr. One exchange between Giacalone, Paris and O'brien had all three shaking their heads at young Jimmy's refusal to wear several hand made shirts from Spain Jim Sr had purchased for him. Chuckie announced he would wear them only they were to small, Giacalone then announced that he would take the shirts for one of his sons inspite the fact that each one was monogramed with the name Jimmy Hoffa.
Giacalone and Hoffa
The relationship between Hoffa and Tony Jack was a marriage of convenience. Tony Jack was the go between for Hoffa and the outfit when Vincent Meli the outfits labor specialist did not want to get his hands dirty. By the mid 60s, Hoffa was a hot item and the outfit did not want to soil Meli's goodname dealing with Hoffa who had managed to make an enemy of the attorney general of the United States. Tony Giacalone due to his on going affair with Sylvia Paris became the contact man. The relationship for Tony was strictly business and he apparently had little regard for Jimmy as he arranged for his wife to carry on an affair with another outfit member and planned to rob Hoffa's Washington office. The only time Tony showed any feeling toward Hoffa was when Tony Zerilli brought up the ideal of snatching Hoffa in exchange for ransom. The plot was nixed when Tony relayed that it was Hoffa's connections that was keeping him out of jail. Hoffa lent his support to several members of the Detroit outfit in business deals which included a $630,000 loan from the teamsters pension fund on behalf of Mike Polizzi, the quashing of a case involving bribery against Giacalone and a second $10,000,000 dollar deal which helped the outfit gain control of a Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. For all of his effort in appeasing the outfit, Hoffa was a despised man partially for his reaction to finding out that his wife was having an affair with Tony Long. When Jimmy found out about the relationship he went to Tony Jacks and arranged a meeting with Joe Zerilli. When Zerilli found out about the affair he ordered Cimini to stay away from Mrs. Hoffa. When the mobster continued seeing Josephine Hoffa on the side, he was hit with a curious indictment for his part in a stock fraud shceme and convicted. The curious thing was Tony Cimini never took part in any stock deals it was outside of his field of interest. The rampant womanizing of Hoffa was a well known fact in the underworld and his inability to handle his own household caused Pepino to sour on him and therefore if Zerilli had no use for you then Tony Jacks felt the same way.
Tony and The disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa
Tax Trouble
Tony Giacalone was a wanted man following the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. Many underworld watchers felt at the time that he had been selected to take the fall for the Hoffa murder. When no case could be made from the evidence in the Hoffa disappearance the IRS took note of Hoffa's endless supply of custom made suites and hit him with a tax case. First a charge of fraud was aimed at Tony for his dealings with a Teamster medical coverage plan. The deal struck in 1971 was to pay Tony Giacalone a fee for each member who was admitted to any of 20 Detroit area medical clinics and hospitals for treatment. The deal fell through when the story hit the papers but remained enough of a factor for prosecutors to use the deal to bring fourth a case. For all of the trouble of bringing the case to court, Tony Jacks beat the charges but was nailed with an income tax case. After a high profile trial Giacalone was found guilty and in 1976 sentenced to serve a ten year term in a federal prison. For good measure, local authorities won a second conviction against Giacalone for loansharking when he allowed one of his nephews to use his name to collect an outstanding gambling debt owed to him. This offense earned Tony a twelve year state term which he was allowed to serve concurrently with his federal term. Tony entered the federal prison system in January of 1979, making a stop at mafia manor in Lewisberg before being sent down to a small federal prison in Alabama. Giacalone spent 3 years in the Alabama prison before requesting that he be allowed to transfer to the federal prison in Milan, Michigan. Giacalone pleaded that the transfer be granted so he could be near his wife, grandchildren and family. Since he entered prison authorities admitted that his family had rarely visited the 64 year old tough guy. Giacalone's transfer was approved in September if 1983 leaving him less than three years to serve before he became eligible for parole.
