Detroit Mafia Associate Cuts Deal In Bookmaking Bust, Appears To Name Names

Veteran Detroit mob associate Thomas (Tommy the Lackey) Mackey has pled guilty to federal gambling charges and according to sources in law enforcement informed on his fellow co-defendants in an illegal on-line bookmaking case he was the lead defendant in. Mackey, a chief lieutenant under reputed Detroit mafia street boss Pete Tocco, entered his guilty plea in court late last month and will be forced to serve a short prison sentence (no longer than two-and-a-half years). The repeat felon was facing a longer term behind bars if he hadn’t allegedly turned on his co-conspirators and been convicted at trial in the case.

The 2014 indictment netted Mackey and eight others. Mackey’s plea agreement obtained from official court records implies his cooperation – the agreement has him officially admit to a lengthy and ultra-specific series of offenses laid out in the documents appearing to come from some form of proffer session held with federal authorities.

None of his co-defendants are likely to do any time behind bars and probably will all plea out, however, per sources familiar with the agreement, if any of them opt to not cop a plea and roll the dice in front of a jury, Mackey could be compelled by the government to testify on its’ behalf.

The 58-year old Mackey, sometimes called, “The Leprechaun,” or “Irish Tommy,” oversaw a stable of bookies who logged bets on-line at Betchopper.com for him and presumably his unindicted superiors in the Detroit mafia. He headquartered most of his affairs out of Luciano’s, a popular Italian restaurant located in the eastside suburbs of Southeast Michigan. His aid-de-camp in the operation, according to the indictment, was Kenny Green, another seasoned Motor City underworld figure tied to mob-backed sports betting in the area for years.

The investigation into Mackey’s gambling ring started at the state level and spawned from informant intelligence collected in the eastside suburb of Fraser in the summer of 2011. The Fraser Police Department quickly handed things over to the FBI and the probe ran up until the spring of 2013. In the fall of 2013, Mackey and a number of other individuals were called to testify at a federal grand jury proceeding convened to look into the matter. Besides Mackey, the co-defendants in the case are reputed bookies John Fayad, Alan Clemons, Doug Demaria, David Milazzo, Ted Lasater, Joe Melcher and Urban Hotts.

Pete Tocco, 67, is the nephew of longtime Michigan mob Godfather Giacomo (Black Jack) Tocco, who died of heart failure last summer. He and Mackey were busted together in 2006 in a federal racketeering case that took eight years to build and in which they both pled out and did prison time – Mackey walked free from his term in 2010.

The accused ringleader of the RICO conspiracy was current alleged Detroit mafia don Jack (Jackie the Kid) Giacalone, but, Giacalone, anointed boss of the crime family in the months preceding Jack Tocco’s passing last year, beat the charges at trial in 2007. Giacalone, 65, is the son of deceased syndicate underboss Vito (Billy Jack) Giacalone and the nephew of legendary crime family street boss Anthony (Tony Jack) Giacalone, who died in 2012 and 2001, respectively.

Mackey’s arrest record includes a pair of DUIs and a drunk and disorderly conduct collar in addition to the ’06 RICO collar and recent bookmaking pinch. Sources with knowledge of the negotiations between Mackey’s attorney and the government say Mackey refused to spill any beans on his mob benefactor and close friend Pete Tocco, known on the streets as, “Petey Specs,” “Blackie” or simply “PT” and the man the FBI thinks is the day-to-day order-keeper in the Detroit mob ranks, relaying all messages and edicts from Jackie Giacalone.