Martin "Marty" Taccetta (born May 2, 1951) is an imprisoned

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

mobster who was the alleged boss of the Jersey Crew, a powerful faction of the

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey, within the nationwide c ...

Early life

Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

in 1951, Martin Taccetta is the son of Anthony Taccetta, a self-employed building materials supplier who allegedly belonged to the Lucchese family. Martin's older brother Michael "Mad Dog" Taccetta is a capo in the Lucchese family who later served as boss of the Jersey Crew. During the early 1960s, Martin Taccetta, his brother, and his cousins belonged to a tough street gang in

. Martin and brother Michael played on the same Little League

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team as did their cousins, Daniel and Thomas Ricciardi and future mob associate Robert Spagnola. He is the cousin of mobsters Michael Perna, and Daniel, Joseph and Thomas Ricciardi. Michael is also the uncle of Joseph Perna born c.a. 1969, John G. Perna born c.a. 1977 and Ralph M. Perna Junior born c.a. 1972 who are the sons of his cousin Ralph V. Perna and his wife Roseanne. They all followed their father and uncle into organized crime. He is also the uncle of Carlo Taccetta, the son of his brother Michael, and Pamela Abdy, the Hollywood film producer whose credits include "Garden State" that was awarded an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature in 2005 as well as three other movies including "Man on the Moon" in 1999. By the late 1960s, both Martin and Michael Taccetta started working with Lucchese mobster Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo in

illegal gambling Gambling law is the set of rules and regulations that apply to the gaming or gambling industry. Gaming law is not a branch of law in the traditional sense but rather is a collection of several areas of law that include criminal law, regulatory law ...

and

loansharking A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of collection, and generally operates outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, aggressive, and extortionate ...

operations. At that time, the boss of the Lucchese family was Gaetano "Tommy" Lucchese. In 1976, the Taccetta brothers and Accetturo all became full members, or " made men", in the Lucchese family, which was now run by new boss Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo, Accetturo's old mentor.

The Jersey crew

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Jersey crew grew in power, wealth, and independence. Based in Northern New Jersey, the crew had 20 members with its own family-like hierarchy. When Accetturo was indicted on state charges during this period, he moved to Florida. While in exile, Accetturo continued to run the Jersey crew through his underboss, Michael Taccetta, with Martin as second in command. Michael and Martin Taccetta operated large gambling and loansharking operations around

, as well as

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

activities through their legitimate business, ''Taccetta Group Enterprises''. When

Philadelphia crime family The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Bruno–Scarfo crime family,< ...

boss Angelo "Gentle Don" Bruno was murdered on March 12, 1980, Accetturo took advantage of the ensuing chaos to establish a new Lucchese crew in Philadelphia. In 1984, the Jersey leadership murdered James "Jimmy Sinatra" Craporatta, a contractor and Lucchese associate. When Craporatta refused to share the proceeds of a

video gaming Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

operation he controlled, the Jersey mobsters beat him to death with metal head

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

The longest Mafia trial in American history

In 1985, Taccetta and 19 co-defendants were indicted in New Jersey on 76 counts of labor

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

, illegal gambling, loansharking,

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

, drug trafficking, money laundering,

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

and murder for hire. These

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an ind ...

s were the result of a four-year investigation of the Jersey crew. Much of the evidence came from

wiretap Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

ped conversations at the Hole-in-the-Wall, a restaurant frequented by mob figures in

. In 1986, when the trial started, the Lucchese family in New York underwent a momentous leadership change with the conviction of Corallo. Facing a life sentence in prison, Corallo designated Lucchese capo Victor Amuso as the new acting boss of the family. Almost immediately, a dispute occurred between Accetturo and Amuso over the independence of the Jersey crew, and the large increase in tribute that Amuso expected from them. On August 26, 1988, after a 21-month trial that was the longest Mafia trial in U.S. history, all 20 defendants were acquitted. Prosecutors were stunned by the verdict. The general consensus was that jurors did not trust the government witnesses, many of whom were themselves criminals testifying in return for reduced sentences. As the jurors left the courtroom, the defendants cheered and clapped for them.

Lucchese family conflicts

With the end of the racketeering trial, the Taccettas and the Jersey crew were shaken by conflict. During the trial, the strong relationship between the Taccetta brothers and Anthony Accetturo turned into a bitter rivalry. Michael Taccetta was jealous of the power that Anthony Accetturo Jr. was gaining in the family, along with a feeling that Anthony Accetturo Sr. was not showing Michael Taccetta sufficient respect. The Jersey crew soon split into Taccetta and Accetturo factions. In addition to the crew rivalries, family boss Amuso had finally lost patience with the entire New Jersey crew. In the Fall of 1988, the dispute with Amuso turned to crisis when he demanded that henceforth the Jersey crew turn over 50% of their earnings to him. Both Accetturo and the Taccettas refused his demand. An enraged Amuso summoned the entire Jersey crew to a meeting in New York. Fearful of being the killed, the crew boycotted the meeting and all went into hiding. At this stage, Amuso gave his famous order "Whack Jersey", kill the entire Jersey crew, especially Accetturo. Over the next 12 months, as Amuso calmed down, Jersey crew members started returning to the family. During this period, Martin and Michael Taccetta reaffirmed their loyalty to Amuso. To weaken the Accetturo faction in New Jersey, Michael Taccetta told Amuso that Accetturo was plotting with a Colombian drug gang to assassinate the Lucchese family leadership. Amuso agreed to the murder contract and allowed the Taccetta brothers to assume control of the Jersey crew.

Weakened crew

Michael was now leader of the Jersey crew, with Martin Taccetta serving as his consigliere. However, the long racketeering trial and the conflict with Amuso had hurt the crew, and their legal problems were not over. Michael Taccetta was soon convicted of tax evasion and sent to prison in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. At this point, Martin took over the crew. On December 5, 1989, Martin Taccetta was indicted in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for fraud over the operation of an

adult film Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

company. The company had bought video equipment on credit, sold the equipment, and then closed without paying the suppliers. Also in 1989, Taccetta was indicted in New Jersey on conspiracy to defraud the Joint

Underwriters Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liability ...

Association of more than $400,000 in phony auto insurance claims. During this time period, Martin Taccetta began cooperating with

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...

captain Thomas "Tommy" Gambino on activities in New Jersey.

Imprisonment

In 1991, Accetturo and the Taccetta brothers were indicted on charges of racketeering,

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

, illegal gambling, extortion, loansharking, conspiracy and the 1984 Craporatta murder. Reacting to the indictments and the murder contract from Amuso, Accetturo decided to become a government witness and testified against both Martin and Michael Taccetta. In 1993, Martin Taccetta was acquitted of murder, but convicted of racketeering charges and, along with his brother, was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. In 2001, Martin Taccetta's lawyers uncovered a

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) memo that said their

confidential informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

s cleared Taccetta from the Craporatta murder. For some reason, this memo was not produced during Taccetta's trial. The lawyers were planning to use this information to appeal his conviction. On December 8, 2005, after serving ten years in prison, Martin Taccetta was released on appeal. A state Superior Court judge ruled he had not received adequate

legal representation In a civil proceeding or criminal prosecution under the common law or under statute, a defendant may raise a defense (or defence) in an effort to avert civil liability or criminal conviction. A defense is put forward by a party to defeat a ...

prior to his 1993 trial. Taccetta had rejected a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

deal from the government based on inadequate advice from his attorney.

New indictment

On May 8, 2008, Martin Tacchetta was indicted along with 23 other New Jersey gangsters for racketeering. Taccetta's charges included conspiring to use extortion to collect a loan from an unidentified debtor and for conspiring in 2007 with Gambino mobster Andrew Merola to extort $20,000 from contractors to allow non-union labor on a construction project in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

. In August 2009, the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

overturned the Superior Court ruling and reinstated Martin Taccetta's 1993 racketeering sentence. New Jersey State Attorney General

Anne Milgram Anne Melissa Milgram (born December 1, 1970) is an American attorney and academic who served as the 11th Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from 2021 to 2025. She previously served as the 57th Attorney General of New Jer ...

made the following statement,

For decades Marty Taccetta was one of the most prolific members of organized crime, whose power and control over the Lucchese family threatened the residents of New Jersey and illegally impacted commercial activity. We are gratified that the Supreme Court's decision will ensure that he will be returned to state prison to serve the remainder of his sentence of life plus 10 years for racketeering and extortion.

On June 10, 2010, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman moved to dismiss the pending counts against Taccetta "because further prosecution of these charges is not in the interests of the United States at this time," according to a court order. As of November 2011, Martin Taccetta is serving his life sentence at the New Jersey State Prison in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

. He will be eligible for parole after serving 30 years in prison. On September 30, 2015 Martin Taccetta was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering in Operation Heat.

In popular culture

*The 2006

Sidney Lumet Sidney Arthur Lumet ( ; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director. Lumet started his career in theatre before moving to film, where he gained a reputation for making realistic and gritty New York City, New York dramas w ...

film ''

Find Me Guilty ''Find Me Guilty'' is a 2006 American courtroom comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Sidney Lumet. The film is based on the true story of the longest Mafia trial in American history. Much of the courtroom testimony was taken from the ori ...

'' is loosely based on the Taccetta brothers' 1988 racketeering trial that lasted 21 months.

References

External links

*http://www.nj.com/sopranos/stories/mafiosi_20020410sl.html *http://www.nj.com/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/ledger/index.ssf?/sopranos/stories/mafiosi_20030723sl_ricciardi.html
"Reputed crime family underboss summoned to court in Newark"
BY PETER J. SAMPSON The Record Thursday, December 10, 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taccetta, Martin 1951 births American gangsters of Italian descent Gangsters from Newark, New Jersey Lucchese crime family Lucchese crime family New Jersey faction Living people