Giacomo "Jackie" DiNorscio (July 20, 1940 – November 14, 2004) was a member of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and later the Lucchese crime families. He acted as his own lawyer (

pro se ''Pro se'' legal representation ( or ) comes from Latin ''pro se'', meaning "for oneself" or "on behalf of themselves" which, in modern law, means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding, as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases, ...

) in the ''United States v. Anthony Accetturo et al.'' RICO trial, famous for being the longest federal trial in history (at 21 months). This trial was conducted while DiNorscio was already incarcerated on separate drug charges. He was ultimately found not guilty (along with his fellow co-defendants) after a short deliberation by the jury. After the trial, DiNorscio went back to prison; he was released on November 23, 2002, after serving 17.5 years of a 30-year sentence. The film '' Find Me Guilty'' is based on this trial. DiNorscio died in November 2004, near the end of shooting.

Philadelphia family

The longtime Don of the

Philadelphia crime family The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Philadelphia Mafia, the Philly Mob or Philly Mafia, the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia, or Bruno-Scarfo family is an Italian-American Mafia family based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed and ...

, Angelo "Gentle Don" Bruno, was killed on March 21, 1980, resulting in a huge power vacuum.

Anthony Accetturo Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo (born 1938) is a former caporegime and leader of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, popularly called "The Jersey Crew." Biography Accetturo was born in 1938 in Orange, New Jersey. His father was a b ...

and

Michael Taccetta Michael Salvatore Taccetta (born September 16, 1947), also known as "Mad Dog," is a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family, who controlled the family's New Jersey faction in the 1980s. Personal life Taccetta, also known as "''Mike T' ...

, 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. 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 than ever and cooperation between the families eventually ended. It was around this time that prominent Bruno member, DiNorscio, along with many others, defected to the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family to earn greater profits and to avoid being killed.

Federal RICO (and other charges) trial

During the early 1980s, U.S. law enforcement started an operation to discover and prosecute all

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

activities in the North Jersey area. After a four-year-long investigation indictments were brought up toward 20 members of the Jersey Crew.Rudolph, Robert. ''The Boys from New Jersey: How the Mob Beat the Feds.'' 199

/ref> 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 The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

(RICO)

predicates Predicate or predication may refer to: * Predicate (grammar), in linguistics * Predication (philosophy) * several closely related uses in mathematics and formal logic: **Predicate (mathematical logic) **Propositional function **Finitary relation, ...

. These charges of criminal activity claimed that the Lucchese Family participated in loansharking, extortion, racketeering, illegal gambling, money laundering, drug trafficking, arson, thefts, as well as murder and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

to commit murder. The trial began in November 1986. During the trial, DiNorscio went on to fire his lawyer and represent himself during the entire trial. Although not popular with Accetturo and Taccetta, DiNorscio is reported to have charmed the jury; as the trial ended in 1988, all twenty defendants were acquitted, with a great deal of "pull" attributed to the congenial personality demonstrated by DiNorscio while he represented himself against the charges. The prosecutors were stunned and it is claimed that the Jersey Crew went right back where they left off in their criminal enterprises before the RICO trial.

References

External links

Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinorscio, Giacomo American gangsters of Italian descent Lucchese crime family Philadelphia crime family Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction Gangsters from Philadelphia 1940 births 2004 deaths