With the influx of underworld figures turning to the prosecution for protection against long prison terms and over agressive codefendants. It was just a matter of time before the government convenced one of the Partnership members to come over to team America in exchange for a reduction of sentence, abosolution from a lifetime of crime and a new start all at tax payers expense. Since it's inception in 1931, the Detroit Outfit was the last of the large families to fall prey to the growing trend of indicted or convicted criminals to offer information against codefendants and or superiors to the government or prosecution team. So when Nove Tocco entered the court room after being flown across country to testify in the sentencing hearing of his cousin and boss Jack Tocco, more than 68 years of tradition was rocked off of it's foundation. Nove Tocco a second cousin of Jack, had been sentenced to a 20 year prison term for a reign of terror he and follow Outfit soldier Paul Corrado had unleased on members of Detroit's gambling fraternity during the late '80s. Tocco and Corrado had made a scrapped out a living shaking down gamblers in the Detroit area demanding that they pay tribute to the Outfit and Jack Tocco. This had been a common practice in Detroit for decades and so it was no secret or surprise to those established in Detroit's underworld circles. Problems arose when the duo began shaking down gamblers connected to or already paying tribute to the Outfit. This action led to Nove, his brother Salvatore and his father Paul being called to a meeting with Jack and Anthony Tocco who berated the Tocco's for acting in a manner considered disrespectful. This meeting in which Jack reportedly told the trio " this is our town and you will do as we tell you," infuriated Nove who had no great love for cousin Jack anyway. Soon after Nove and Paul Corrado were picked up on FBI listening devices discussing the murders of the two brothers as a way of advancing through the ranks of the Outfit. At the time the statement was thought to have been directed at the Giacalone brothers who have controlled Detroit's lucrative gambling operations for the past 2 decades. What has only become apparent with the defection of Nove, is the bitter feelings he habored toward the other Toccos. With this knowledge now known it is more likely that the brothers being discussed were the Tocco brothers and not the Giacalones. Nove was probably counting on his uncle Tony "Zerilli also a cousin of Jack Tocco and the Outfits underboss," taking over in the case of the death or conviction of the Tocco's and a probable promotion under Zerilli who had been Nove's underworld mentor. Anthony Zerilli is the younger brother of Nove Tocco's mother. It was under Zerilli and the late Michael Polizzi that Nove received his intiation and introduction into the Las Vegas operations of the Partners. Nove was brought into the inner workings of the Partnership as a enforcer and collector in Las Vegas as a 19 year old. Nove seemingly was on the path to stardom in the underworld as Zerilli bought and sold pieces of prominent Las Vegas Hotels and Casinos. All was well as Zerilli was named to succeed his father Joe as the boss of Detroit's family in the early '70s. With uncle Tony sitting in the drivers seat, Nove's influence rose stedily if not swiftly. Everything came to a crashing halt when Tony Zerilli and Michael Polizzi were convicted for acquiring hidden points in a Vegas Casino. Sentenced to serve 5 years in prison, Zerilli was forced to vacate the leadership role in favor of his father Joe who returned from retirement while Tony served his time. Unfortunately for the aspirations of Nove, Joe died in 1977 before Tony had completed his prison sentence. This left the leadership open to Jack Tocco, who was himself part of the royal leniage of the Detroit family as the nephew of Joe Zerilli and the son of Black Bill Tocco. Joe took over and was named permanent boss of the Outfit in June of 1979, effectively ending the reign of Anthony Zerilli. Tony would be named as the second in command to Tocco but Nove was left on the outside looking in. As a means to support himself, Nove turned to dealing cocaine, a business venture which led to his incarceration from 1980-1986. This drug conviction made Nove an outsider in the outfit as Jack Tocco was very careful to avoid any and all appearance of illegality. Nove began to plot his return to glory as his dislike of the Tocco's grew. In his testimony Nove stated that Tocco felt the younger members of the outfit should put on a mask and go out and make a score once a year in order to make some extra cash. This suggestion didn't sit well with Nove who felt his blood lines should have entitled him to inclusion into the more lucrative and cleaner activities of the Outfit such as gambling. This is when the Tocco's Nove,Paul and Salvatore began their venture of shaking down the connected outfit gamblers. Following the sweeping 1996 indictment which was based primarilly on the actions and activities of Nove and Paul Corrado, it became apparent that Nove would be forced to pay for his indiscretions by serving his time which turned out to be 20 years, knocked down from life following a dismissal of several bomb related charges. Things got worse when Jack Tocco walked out of jail less than a year after having been convicted of heading the Detroit underworld. Once again Nove's hatred of his cousin came to the surface and 18 months into his 20 year term, Nove contacted the FBI and offered his testimony against cousin Jack. Inspite of his insistance to offer information on the Detroit boss and his own brother, Nove refused to testify against his uncle Tony who in the case of Jack Tocco receiving a long sentence would be the most likely to take his place. Could Nove have planned this and hoped to return to the good graces of the outfit under the protection of his unlce. This is not very likely considering the close relationship between Zerilli and the Tocco's. In addition it has become clear that Nove's contact with Jack Tocco was extremely limited and he has admitted that any contact was always conducted through his uncle Tony or Anthony Corrado, the uncle of convicted extrotionist Paul Corrado. Jack Tocco was recently sentenced to a total of 24 months in prison. With credit for time already served this translates to another year and 10 months behind bars most likely at the medical facility in Minnesota. Nove on the other hand awaits his fate at the hands of Judge O'Mera who fought so hard to keep Jack out of jail. The reduction if any of Nove's sentence will fall under the discretion of Judge O'Mera.
