Notorious figures
Joseph Zerilli
1897–1977 · boss of the Detroit Partnership (Detroit Mafia)
Sicilian immigrant who rose from laborer and bootlegger to head the Detroit Mafia, known as the Partnership, from the 1930s until the 1970s.
- Born
Terrasini, Sicily, Italy- Died
aged 79- Birth name
- Giuseppe Zerilli
- Detroit years
- 1914–1977
- Field
- Notorious figures
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Giuseppe Zerilli left Terrasini, Sicily, at 17 and settled in Detroit in 1914 among many other Sicilian immigrants, working at first as a laborer for the Detroit Gas Company. During Prohibition he joined the bootlegging crews that smuggled liquor across the Detroit River from Windsor, working alongside his relatives and fellow Terrasini natives, including his brother-in-law William Tocco. After the Crosstown mob war of 1930–1931 ended with the killing of rival Chester LaMare, Detroit's Sicilian factions merged into what became known as the Detroit Partnership, and by 1936 Zerilli had operational control. For four decades he presided over gambling, loan-sharking, union and legitimate business interests across southeast Michigan, Windsor and Toledo, while largely avoiding prison. In 1956 Detroit's family was given a seat on the Mafia's national Commission. His family's interest in Hazel Park Raceway, opened in 1949, was a major source of money in an era when racetracks were Michigan's only legal gambling. He died of natural causes in 1977 and is buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
Highlights
- Settled in Detroit from Sicily in 1914
- Head of the Detroit Partnership from the mid-1930s
- Detroit family joined the Mafia's national Commission in 1956
- Buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Detroit
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Buried here · 1977–
Mount Olivet Cemetery
Large Catholic cemetery on Detroit's east side where he is buried.
Related place · 1950s–1970s
Hazel Park Raceway (former)
Closed · 1949–2018
Horse-racing track in suburban Hazel Park in which the Zerilli family held a controlling interest from 1950; racing ended in 2018.