Anthony Accetturo
| Anthony Accetturo | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1938 (age 79) |
| Occupation | Former capo of The Jersey Crew |
| Criminal charge | Wire fraud |
| Criminal penalty | Imprisonment, sentence stayed |
Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo (born 1938) is a former caporegime and leader of the New Jersey faction of the Lucchese crime family, The Jersey Crew.
Accetturo was born in 1938 in Orange, New Jersey. His father was a butcher, his mother a seamstress. Accetturo dropped out of school after completing the sixth grade. At age 16, Accetturo moved to Newark and became the leader of a large street gang. He gained a reputation as a ferocious street fighter, which led several of his fellow gang members to call him "Tumac," after the caveman hero of the 1940 adventure film One Million B.C.
At age 17, Accetturo was recruited by Anthony "Ham" Delasco, the boss of the Jersey Crew. By the early 1960s, he had become Delasco's driver. Accetturo became Delasco's protégé learning trades in illegal gambling and loansharking controlling the Newark area. Delasco died in the late 1960s and Accetturo became a major earner under his successor, Joseph Abate, as well as a major player in his own right in the New Jersey underworld. He soon grew rich in the family, netting about $500,000 yearly.
In 1970, Accetturo moved to Florida to avoid an investigation of his gambling operations in Newark. Another reason for his move was that South Florida was open to all the crime families for exploitation. In the early 1970s, Abate went into semi-retirement, and Lucchese boss Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo put Accetturo in charge of the entire Lucchese operation in New Jersey. The membership books of the Mafia had been closed since 1957, so Accetturo wasn't an official member yet. This made his promotion even more remarkable, since Corallo chose him over several made men who had previously been his superiors. Nonetheless, in the eyes of Corallo, Abate and the family leadership, Accetturo represented the Mafia ideal: loyal, trustworthy and a good earner. During his absence, Accetturo designated his lieutenant, Michael "Mad Dog" Taccetta of Florham Park, to run the day-to-day operations of the crew.
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