The Jersey Crew
| Founded by | Lucchese crime family |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Newark, New Jersey |
| Years active | c. 1920s–present |
| Territory | Northern New Jersey counties of Essex, Morris, Union, Monmouth, Passaic, Bergen and Sussex |
| Ethnicity | Italian, Italian American |
| Membership (est.) | 50 made members, unknown amount of associates |
| Criminal activities | Racketeering, conspiracy, loansharking, money laundering, murder, drug trafficking, illegal gambling, extortion |
| Allies | Genovese (New Jersey faction), Gambino, Bonanno, Colombo, DeCavalcante and Philadelphia crime families. |
| Rivals | Various gangs in New Jersey, including their allies |
The Lucchese crime family's New Jersey faction, also known as The Jersey Crew, is a powerful faction within the Lucchese crime family. The faction operates throughout the Northern New Jersey area. During the 1970s into the late 1980s, the faction was led by Anthony Accetturo and his protégé Michael Taccetta. In 1987, Victor Amuso took over the family and began demanding a higher percentage of tribute from the faction. Accetturo refused and a war erupted between the New Jersey faction and the New York faction. This left brothers Michael and Martin Taccetta in charge of the faction as they tried to have Accetturo and his family murdered. In 1993, Accetturo defected and became a government witness. He helped convict Michael and Martin Taccetta. Today the faction is controlled by Ralph Perna.
The New Jersey faction was recognized as a bootlegging crew under Gaetano Reina's crime family. Throughout the prohibition era the crew smuggled alcohol into New York City. In 1930, Reina was murdered and his family was taken over by Tommy Gagliano.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, the faction was headed by Settimo Accardi in Newark. In 1953, Accardi's U.S. citizenship was revoked after not disclosing his previous arrest record. Accardi was arrested in 1955 on narcotic charges and fled the country. With Accardi's absence Anthony Delasco and Joseph Abate took over running the New Jersey faction.
Toward the 1970s, the faction was unofficially headed by Anthony "Tumac" Accetturo, because Accetturo had not yet been inducted into the Lucchese crime family due to "closed books". The leader of the faction was still Joseph Abate, with Anthony Accetturo as his protégé waiting to take over. The faction then came to control the entire Newark area, with loansharking, illegal gambling, narcotics, money laundering and extortion operations. Reportedly, with Accetturo in charge of the crew, they handed something between $70,000 and $80,000 a year to Tommy Lucchese. Upon Lucchese's death in 1967, and several years of different "acting bosses" such as Carmine "Mr. Gribbs" Tramunti and Ettore "Eddie" Coco. At the end of 1973, when Anthony Corallo was released from prison, he was quickly installed as boss. Corallo, a longtime friend of Accetturo, quickly inducted Accetturo and his second in commands Michael "Mad Dog" Taccetta and Martin Taccetta into the Lucchese crime family, so they could officially control the entire New Jersey area.
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