Vincent Meli
Born
Vincenzo Angelo Meli

(1921-01-02)January 2, 1921
San Cataldo, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy
DiedJanuary 7, 2008(2008-01-07) (aged 87)
Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Resting placeResurrection Cemetery, Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityItalian
Other namesLittle Vince Meli
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationUniversity of Notre Dame (1944)
OccupationMobster
Children6
RelativesBill Bufalino (brother-in-law)
Angelo Meli (uncle)
Jack Tocco (cousin-in-law)
AllegianceDetroit Partnership
Conviction(s)Extortion (1979)
Criminal penaltyThree years' imprisonment

Vincent "Vincenzo" Angelo Meli (/ˈmɛlɪ/; Italian: [ˈmɛːli]; January 2, 1921 – January 7, 2008) was an Italian born-American mobster who was a soldier of the Detroit crime family.[1]

Early years

Meli was born on January 2, 1921, in San Cataldo, Sicily, to Frank Meli and Grazia Panzica; and he immigrated to the United States at the age of 10.[2] His father was a member of the Detroit Partnership along with his uncle Angelo Meli.[2] His sister, Marie Antoinette, married attorney Bill Bufalino.[3] His cousin, Maria, married Jack Tocco,[4] future crime boss of the family.

In 1944, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.[5] Enlisting in the United States Army soon after graduation,[5] Meli saw a lot of action and was discharged three years later. During his service, Vincent was a member of Operation Overlord. This was the code name for the Battle of Normandy where Allied operations launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II. His division was a primary force in helping to secure Nuremberg concentration camps and free the prisoners.

Meli married Grace Mercurio, and had two daughters, Carmen and Phyllis, and four sons, Frank, Carl, Vincent, and Paul.[6][5]

Music business and labor racketeering

Shortly after his return to Detroit, Meli became involved in organized crime. He was a major crime figure who attempted to gain control of Detroit's coin machine industry. At age 24, with the financial backing of his uncle Angelo, successfully bought the Meltone Music and Jay-Cee Music Co with Peter Tocco, Michael Polizzi, and Raffaele Quasarano.[7]

A capo by the 1960s, Meli was a major labor racketeer and, through Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, was an associate of Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa. During the 1990s, Meli was tied to labor racketeering. He was named by former Detroit mobster Nove Tocco and retired federal agents as an associate of Michael Bane,[8] president of Pontiac, Michigan's Teamster Local 614, during federal investigations into labor union corruption.[8]

In 1979, Meli was convicted of extortion, and began serving a three-year sentence on January 3, 1984.[9]

Death

Meli died on January 7, 2008, of bone cancer at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital Warren in Warren, Michigan,[2] at the age of 87. He is buried in Resurrection Cemetery, Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Detroit mob thrives quietly". Detroit Free Press. November 9, 1992. p. 9. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Soldier; Vincent Meli, 71, Grosse Pointe Woods Open access icon
  2. 1 2 3 Ashenfelter, David (January 10, 2008). "Reputed mobster of Detroit Meli dies at 87". Detroit Free Press. p. 23. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Vincent Meli was born in Sicily in 1921, and came to the United States with his parents when he was 10. [...] The FBI described Vincent Meli's father, also named Frank, and uncle Angelo Meli as Detroit-area Mafia leaders. [...] Vincent Meli died of bone cancer Monday at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital Warren. He was 87.
  3. ↑ "MARIE A. TONI BUFALINO". The Detroit News. Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. December 9, 2002. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via Legacy.com. Beloved wife of the late William. [...] Sister of Vince Meli.
  4. ↑ "Maria "Toni" Tocco". Bagnasco & Calcaterra Funeral Home. Sterling Heights, Michigan. November 25, 2018. Retrieved August 22, 2020. Tocco, Maria "Toni" age 84, November 25, 2018. Beloved wife of the late Jack. [...] Dear sister of the late Vincent Meli, Sam Meli and Angela Lucido.
  5. 1 2 3 "How Two Steel Hauling Firms Thrive on Terror". Detroit Free Press. April 10, 1974. p. 6. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, was an intelligence officer in World War II, is the father of six and lives quietly. Open access icon
  6. 1 2 "VINCENT A. MELI". The Detroit News. Sterling Heights, Michigan. January 9, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via Legacy.com. Beloved husband of the late Grace. Loving father of Carmen (Simon) Thomas, Phyllis (Tony) LaPiana, Frank, Carl (Cathy), Vincent (Liz) and Paul (Debbie). [...] January 7, 2008, age 87. [...] Entombment Resurrection Cemetery.
  7. ↑ Moldea, Dan E. (1978). The Hoffa Wars: The Rise and Fall of Jimmy Hoffa. Charter Books. p. 43. ISBN 0-441-34010-5. Angelo Meli's nephew, Vincent A. Meli, bought the Meltone Music Company with $30,000 worth of help from his uncle. Peter Tocco, owner of the fish market cum heroine drop, opened the Jay-Cee Music Company with Quasarano and Michael Polizzi, John Priziola's son-in-law.
  8. 1 2 Nelson, Michael (January 8, 2001). "Hoffa Ally Allegedly Lied about Organized Crime Ties". National Legal and Policy Center. Retrieved August 22, 2020. A new report accuses Michael C. Bane, president of Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local 614 in Pontiac, Mich., of lying under oath about his personal relationships with Detroit organized crime figures. Bane, who was convicted of embezzlement in the 1970s, has been affiliated with the local for more than 30 years and became president in 1990. [...] Nove Tocco, one of four men convicted in the 1998 federal trial of the Detroit mob, told the FBI [...] Bane was friendly with Vincent Meli, LaPiana and others. To support his claim that he knows Bane, Tocco also related incidents in which Bane participated with them.
  9. ↑ "h - NCJRS" (PDF). National Criminal Justice Reference Service. October 18, 1984. Retrieved August 22, 2020. Vincent Meli, a prominent member of the Detroit mob, was convicted in 1979 for using extortionate practices in an effort to force Teamster drivers of one of Detroit's largest steel hauling companies to pay their uwn health benefits. After a lengthy and unsuccessful appeal, began serving a three-year sentence on January 3, 1984.

Further reading

  • Burnstein, Scott M. (2006). Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-4084-6.

Twist (December 31, 2012). "Vincent A Meli". Find a Grave. Retrieved August 22, 2020.

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