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A reputed mob kingpin pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court to a racketeering charge, averting a trial that could have landed him in prison for life.
With a hoarse “yes,” Vito “Billy Jack” Giacalone admitted his membership in the group that ran illegal bookmaking, numbers and gambling operations in the Detroit area.
Under terms of the agreement, Giacalone, 74, will be sentenced to no more than seven years in federal prison on one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Assistant U.S. Atty. Keith Corbett said. He remains free on bond.
Federal agents say Giacalone was one of the men former Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa was supposed to have met the day he disappeared in 1975.
