The Jersey Crew is a powerful faction of the Lucchese crime family, that operates and controls illegal activities like drug trafficking, labor racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, money laundering, and murder, in the Northern New Jersey area.
Crew's early history
The Jersey Crew was allegedly being recognized as a criminal organization upon the foundation of the Commission in 1931, after the murders of the two most powerful Mob bosses in New York City, Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano. The crew were eventually recognized as bootleggers under Gaetano "Tom" Reina in the early 1920s, as they worked throughout the Prohibition with smuggling of alcohol, extortion and illegal gambling. Their origins can be traced back to when members of both Masseria and Maranzano families, together with the organization of what would later become the DeCavalcante crime family, founded their own crew in New Jersey to help with the importion of alcohol and liquor into New York City. After the meeting in Atlantic City in 1931, when Thomas Gagliano and Tommy Lucchese were chosen as bosses of the old Reina crime family, the New Jersey Crew came under the wings of the Bronx faction leaders.
Expanding the crew
Toward the 1940s and early 1950s, the New Jersey Crew expanded their operations through their legitimate businesses. The crew had since 1931 been under the control of Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese, the Underboss of the Gagliano crime family, and the crew kept operating from Bergen County through Essex, Morris, Passaic and Union counties, all the way to Sussex County. Upon the death of longtime Boss Thomas Gagliano, Tommy Lucchese was soon installed as boss of the family, which was renamed the Lucchese crime family. The crew were then headed by several of their high-ranking members, like prominent NJ mobsters Settimo Accardi , Anthony "Ham" Delasco , Joseph Abate from Newark, New Jersey. While the Elizabeth, New Jersey was headed by Stefano Badami and Filippo "Phil" Amari, for several years. But toward the mid 1950s, Badami was murdered, as well as Filippo "Phil" Amari stepped down due to rivalry between the Newark and Elizabeth factions, in an attempt to reorganize everything. It was then decided that the Elizabeth faction was to form its own family headed by Nicholas "Nick" Delmore the family would later be known as the DeCavalcante crime family, and the Jersey Crew was to stay as a faction of the Lucchese crime family. Durning this time Joseph Abate ruled the Jersey crew and soon after his retirement Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo, who was chosen to become the new leader to the crew. Accetturo had a good friendship with Lucchese caporegime Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo and was put in charge of the crews entire illegal gambling and loansharking operation in Newark, the crew had a new unofficial leader.
Accetturo in charge
Toward the 1970s, the crew were unofficially headed by Anthony Accetturo, because Accetturo wasn't yet inducted into the Lucchese crime family, due to "closed books". The leader of the crew was still Joseph Abate while Anthony Accetturo was his protégé waiting to take over of the crew. The Jersey Crew then came to control the entire Newark area, with loansharking, illegal gambling, narcotics, money laundering and extortion operations. Reportedly, with Accetturo in charge of the crew, they handed something between $70,000 and $80,000 a year to Tommy Lucchese. Upon Lucchese's death in 1967, and several years of different acting bosses as Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti and Ettore "Eddie" Coco, until the year of 1973, when , so they could officially control the entire New Jersey area.
Accetturo and Taccetta
During the early 1970s, Accetturo relocated to Miami, Florida to avoid prosecution for his Operating in Philadelphia
Toward the year of 1980, the longtime Don of the Philadelphia crime family, Angelo "Gentle Don" Bruno, was shot and killed on March 12 , resulting in a huge power vacuum between prominent Bruno members Philip Testa and Nicodemo Scarfo, both fighting for the total control of the Bruno crime family. Accetturo and Taccetta on the other hand, used their situation to establish a new foothold in Philadelphia, as a part of the Jersey Crew, with illegal gambling and loansharking operations. Unfortunately, because of the bad relations between the two factions in Philadelphia's crime family, as well as both Taccetta and Accetturo taking advantage of the situation, the relationship between Philadelphia] and the New York Families, especially the Luccheses, eventually turned worse after than before the murder of Angelo Bruno, which led to all cooperation between the families, completely terminated. It was around this time that prominent Bruno member, Giacomo "Jackie" DiNorscio, and many others, defected to the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family to make more profit and to avoid being killed.
21 months in trial
During the early 1980s, US law enforcement started an operation to determinate all organized crime activities in the North Jersey area, as a four-year-long investigation was finally announced, and indictments were brought up toward 20 members of Jersey Crew. Accetturo was brought from Florida, the Taccetta brothers were arrested in Newark, and 17 other known members were put on trial for 76 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) predicates, which included loansharking, extortion, racketeering, illegal gambling, money laundering, drug trafficking, arson and thefts, as well as New Jersey rivalry
As the trial ended with all defendants acquitted in 1988, the authorities eventually managed to split up the Jersey Crew, as Michael Taccetta grew jealous on Anthony Accetturo, Jr. who was said to take over for Anthony Accetturo on his eventual retirement. The Taccetta brothers reportedly claimed war on Accetturo, who had escaped to Miami to avoid being killed. Although the war never gotten to a point of massive shooting in the streets, the two factions were close at killing and destroy each other completely in late 1988. But the crew had other problems, as the Lucchese crime family was given new leadership, when Vittorio "Vic" Amuso stepped up after Corallo.
New York rivalry
Toward the year of 1989, the Jersey Crew's war position had eventually declined, as the two factions were more interested about making money than who was in charge. The new leaders were reportedly Michael Taccetta and Martin Taccetta, who operated through their legitimate business, Taccetta Group Enterprises, which was under control by the Lucchese crime family. Through the company, the Jersey Crew were able to launder money and pay their tribute to the heads of the Luccheses in New York, but as Anthony Corallo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987, and his protegé Anthony "Buddy" Luongo was found murdered earlier, the new bosses Victor Amuso and Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, known for their brutal use of violence, questioned the profit they received from the Jersey Crew. Apparently, both Accetturo and Taccetta had skimmed of the profit, and only sent a $50,000-a-year payment to the new leaders from the Brooklyn, New York faction. When they demanded 50% of the crew's total profit, both Taccetta and Accetturo reportedly refused, portraying themselves as hard-working money machines that were only having a bad year. Amuso and Casso on the other hand saw this as an act of weakness, and gave the order to "Whack Jersey", meaning that the entire North Jersey] faction should be eliminated. Summoned to a meeting in Brooklyn with Victor Amuso and Anthony Casso, the entire North Jersey faction, who were fearful of being massacred, went into hiding, disrupting their illegal activities. Over the next 12 months, most of the New Jersey crew members came back to the family. Amuso is to have portrayed Accetturo as a distrustful servant who was betraying his boss, as Taccetta reportedly is to have sent messages to Amuso in Brooklyn, asking for a contract to be placed on Accetturo's life, so Taccetta could control the entire New Jersey faction.
Arrests and trials
Upon the murder-contract Taccetta had put on his life, Accetturo had been placed under federal protection, as he was extradited from North Carolina to New Jersey. During this time, Accetturo had little power of the Jersey Crew, as Amuso had reportedly stripped his rank and demoted him to soldier. The Taccetta brothers also had problems, as their longtime rival Thomas Ricciardi was ready to step up and take control over the North Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family in the early 1990s, but as everything looked to bring a new war to the streets, Accetturo, the Taccetta brothers and Ricciardi were put on trial for racketeering, loansharking, extortion, illegal gambling, drug trafficking, murder and conspiracy to commit murder. As the entire crew's administration was put on trial in 1992, Ricciardi decided to defect to the government and turn state's evidence in the beginning of the trial, and eventually testify against Martin and Michael Taccetta. Although Michael Taccetta was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993, his brother Martin was acquitted on the murder charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison, as he can be paroled in 2016. Ricciardi went into the Witness Protection Program, and revealed that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case in 1988 ended the way it did because the jury had been rigged.
Current position
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