The Zerilli Family of Detroit, MI

One of the quieter, more self-contained, and independent Families of the American Cosa Nostra has been the Detroit Crime Family. Although the Detroit mob is one of the 26 such Families that comprise the Mafia in this nation and they are certainly recognized as such, the Joseph Zerilli Family has always done their best to stay above the fray and operate in a more surreptitious and independent fashion.

Don’t get me wrong, they view all the other borgatas as “brothers” and will do whatever is necessary to accommodate a fellow mafiosi or Family anywhere in the U.S., or even Italy for that matter. It’s just that they’d prefer to run their own rackets and keep contact with other crews to a minimum.

This is a practice started by Zerilli in the 1960s and seems to have been continued up to the present day.

Detroit has always had a very rich history when it comes to organized crime within its borders.

Note: For a comprehensive pictorial hierarchy chart, please see The Zerilli Family Leadership Chart. Please also see The Michele (Mike the Enforcer) Rubino Regime Chart – Detroit Partnership.

During the early years of its formation, Detroit’s underworld saw many varied gangster groups all vying for power and position which of course led to many interlocking conflicts between the various crime groups which included opposing Italian factions who fought each other.

They viciously battled for supremacy to control the multimillion-dollar illicit bootleg alcohol trade, policy-numbers gambling and the other prominent rackets of the day. The streets of Detroit were littered with scores of bodies over a number of years until the gunsmoke cleared.

Among the combatants were the infamous Jewish membered Purple Gang, early boss Giovanni Vitale, the Giannola brothers gang, Chester LaMare and his mob, and the famous Castellammarese faction headed by Vito Adamo, and later Gaspare Milazzo who had relocated to Detroit after fleeing a 1921 murder investigation back in New York City.