MOB TALK: Born on June 7, 1950, the current boss of the Detroit Partnership, Jack "Jackie the Kid" Giacalone.
- mobtalk247
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 8
Born on June 7, 1950, the current boss of the Detroit Partnership, Jack "Jackie the Kid" Giacalone. With the leadership of the Detroit Outfit over, & being 75 years old, Jackie Giacalone has emerged as the heir to the kingdom that was ran by Giacomo Tocco. The kid is the nephew of Anthony Giacalone, & the son of the late Vito Giacalone. Jackie's rise in the Detroit Outfit has been duly noted by various law enforcement agencies, yet he remains an almost invisible underworld figure. Ignored by the media & unrecognized by casual mob watchers, the 1st sign of his stature, within the organized crime family, occurred when Jackie established Farm Fresh Produce Wholesalers in March of 1982.
Farm Fresh moved into a building located at the corner of Adelaide & Riopelle streets, in Eastern Market. The office served as the meeting place for members of the Giacalone Group Enterprise, "headed up by Billy Jack, uncle Tony, Jackie & Anthony Giacalone, Jr., "the son of Tony Jack," & their associates, to discuss gambling related activities". The Farm Fresh office became the site of 1 of the most aggressive wiretapping operations pulled off by the FBI, up to that time. Federal agents began investigating the activities conducted at the office, shortly after receiving a tip from 2 unidentified sources, that gambling activities were being discussed, within the confines of the seemingly legitimate business. Agents not only applied for a warrant to enter the premises & plant a bug, but also took the extraordinary step of bugging the entire block of Riopelle & Adelaide streets, in an effort to collect incriminating conversations that may have taken place, during walk talks held by Vito Giacalone & his minions. The operation, which lasted from August to December of 1982, resulted in the indictment of Vito, Jackie, Anthony Giacalone, Michael Santo Polizzi, & 9 others, on charges of Operating an illegal gambling business & violation of RICO statutes.
Jackie settled his legal problems, with a guilty plea, in exchange for a 2-year prison sentence. Giacalone, who began serving his sentence on October 2, 1987, was seemingly a minor player in the whole scheme, but his true position would later be revealed upon his return to gambling activities, as an active & vocal leader in the crew headed up by his father & uncle. Following his release from prison late in 1989, Jackie began expanding his influence & reputation not only among the Partners but nationally as well. The Kid would join with legendary Detroit bookmaker Henry Allen Hilf in establishing a nationwide bookmaking operation that operated in Michigan, Miami, Pittsburgh, New York, Las Vegas & the Ohio Valley. The ring, which reportedly made as much as $250k a week, was broken up in 1991 & Jackie once again pled guilty & received 30 months in prison for his role.
Jackie once again emerged from prison & continued his involvement in syndicate activities, this time providing himself with a layer of insulation, by using long time family friend, Frank Bommarito, to pass on his requests & orders. Jackie was named in testimony, given by John Pree, “a turncoat associate of the Giacalone Group Enterprise," in connection with a string of fire bombings, beatings & extortion attempts which, according to Pree, were all committed on the orders of Jackie the kid. Pree also accused Giacalone of arranging the theft of a shipment of Christmas trees & a skip loader, which would be sold & the proceeds split among the perpetrators of the crimes. With the information provided by John Pree, prosecutors & FBI agents began looking at a possible RICO case against the kid, but Jackie managed to escape unscathed, when John Pree suddenly quit talking & asked that his plea agreement with authorities be cancelled, even though he would have to serve a total of 27 years in prison, before he would be allowed to apply for parole. As a result, Jackie the kid continued to climb through the ranks of the Partnership, operating in the role of boss of the Detroit gambling fraternity, he was a lieutenant for Jack Tocco & the Detroit Partnership, until Tocco's death in 2014, where Giacalone rose to the position of boss.
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