Marty Taccetta is a convicted New Jersey organized crime figure serving life plus ten years in state prison as the former underboss of the Lucchese crime family’s New Jersey faction. He was convicted of racketeering and extortion in 1993, briefly released on a post-conviction ruling in 2005, ordered back to prison by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2009, convicted a second time in a 2015 racketeering plea tied to a $2.2 billion sports betting enterprise, and is now awaiting a ruling on a motion for a new trial based on FBI dental records he says prosecutors hid from his defense.
What He Was Convicted Of in 1993
A State Grand Jury charged Taccetta along with his brother Michael, family boss Anthony “Tumac” Accetturo, Thomas Ricciardi, Michael Ryan, and Joseph Sodano on seven counts including racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, murder, and extortion.1Findlaw. State v. Taccetta (1997) The heart of the case was the extortion of brothers Pat and Vincent Storino, principals of SMS Manufacturing Corp., from whom the Lucchese faction extracted roughly $146,000 a year.2Orlando Sentinel. Gang Member of Lucchese Family Gets Life
On August 13, 1993, an Ocean County jury found Taccetta guilty of racketeering conspiracy, first-degree racketeering, and two counts of extortion. Because the extortion convictions elevated the racketeering charge to a first-degree offense, the trial court classified him as a persistent offender and imposed life on the racketeering count with a 25-year parole disqualifier, plus consecutive 10-year terms with 5-year parole disqualifiers on each extortion count. The aggregate: life plus ten, with 30 years of parole ineligibility.1Findlaw. State v. Taccetta (1997)
The Appellate Division affirmed every conviction in a May 23, 1997 decision, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the racketeering evidence, the admission of co-conspirator tape recordings, alleged prosecutorial misconduct in summation, and the consecutive sentences.
The Craparotta Murder Acquittal
The murder count in the 1993 indictment involved the June 12, 1984 killing of Vincent “Jimmy Sinatra” Craparotta, a 56-year-old used-car salesman beaten to death with golf clubs at his Route 9 car lot in Toms River. Prosecutors alleged the killing was meant to force Craparotta’s nephews, the Storinos, to pay tribute from their video poker machine profits.3New York Post. Mobster Jailed in Connection to 1984 Murder Says He Was Framed At trial, former Mafia underbosses testified that Taccetta had claimed responsibility for the murder, saying he chose golf clubs because “bats break.”
The jury acquitted Taccetta of the murder. Ricciardi was the only defendant convicted of the killing itself; he later became a government informant and, in 1996, entered a “universal plea” covering the Craparotta murder and eight other unsolved killings, receiving twenty years.4Asbury Park Press. Reputed Mobsters Jersey Shore Stories Behind Photos The acquittal matters now because Taccetta’s pending new-trial motion argues that evidence connected to the Craparotta murder was hidden from his defense, and that the same testimony used to link him to the killing tainted the jury on the counts he was actually convicted of.
Why He Went Back to Prison After Being Released
Taccetta filed for post-conviction relief in 1998, arguing his trial lawyer had misjudged his sentencing exposure. Before trial, the State had offered a plea of 20 years with an 8-year parole disqualifier. According to Taccetta, his attorney told him that if the jury acquitted him of the Craparotta murder, the worst outcome would be 20 years with 10 years of parole ineligibility. The lawyer did not recognize that an extortion conviction would upgrade the racketeering count to a first-degree offense carrying a life term regardless of the murder verdict.5Findlaw. State v. Taccetta (NJ Supreme Court)
In 2005 a post-conviction judge agreed the advice was deficient and that Taccetta would have taken the plea if he had understood the exposure. He was released while the State appealed. The Appellate Division sided with him. Then, on July 30, 2009, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed and ordered him back to prison.6NJ.com. NJ Supreme Court Lucchese Family The Court’s reasoning turned on the prejudice prong of the ineffective-counsel test. Because Taccetta had always maintained his innocence, he could not have entered a valid guilty plea under New Jersey law, which forbids a court from accepting a plea based on what the Court called a “known lie.” He was therefore “legally disabled from taking the plea offer” and could not show a different outcome would have been possible.5Findlaw. State v. Taccetta (NJ Supreme Court) He was processed through the Morris County Jail and returned to state prison.
The Withheld Dental Records Claim
Taccetta’s current legal fight centers on an FBI analysis of his dental records that he says prosecutors failed to turn over before the 1993 trial. He argues the records place him at a dentist’s office in West Orange on June 12, 1984, the day Craparotta was killed roughly an hour away in Toms River. The FBI report, according to Taccetta, concluded that the dental records had been “altered by writings that obscured the date” of the appointment.7AOL. Important Red Flag Crime Figures
Taccetta says he obtained the FBI analysis only through a Freedom of Information Act request filed years after his conviction. His original trial attorneys, David A. Ruhnke and Michael Critchley, testified at a 2024 hearing that they never received the report in 1993. The State points to a receipt for records signed by the defense that year; Taccetta’s lawyers respond that the receipt is undated, does not itemize documents, and does not show the FBI analysis was among them.7AOL. Important Red Flag Crime Figures
The State Attorney General’s Office has also argued that even if the report was withheld, the omission would be “at most a harmless error” because it does not undermine the extortion, racketeering, and conspiracy convictions. Prosecutors contend Taccetta could have “bragged” about the murder without committing it.8Asbury Park Press. Appeal Hearing Delayed 1984 Toms River Mob Hit Case Martin Taccetta
A hearing on Taccetta’s motion for a new trial was held on May 21, 2024, before Superior Court Judge Dina M. Vicari at the Ocean County Court House. A detective from the Attorney General’s Office reviewed the dental records themselves in evidence. Judge Vicari asked both sides for legal briefs. No ruling had been issued as of the most recent reporting.7AOL. Important Red Flag Crime Figures
The 2015 Operation Heat Conviction
While Taccetta’s original convictions were still being contested, the Lucchese family’s New Jersey gambling operations kept running. A multi-year investigation by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, dubbed “Operation Heat,” uncovered an international sports betting enterprise that processed an estimated $2.2 billion in wagers over a 15-month period, with results tallied through a wire room in Costa Rica and debts collected by extortion.9New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Operation Heat Plea Agreements
Taccetta was designated a “Tier 1” defendant. Authorities said he participated in the enterprise between 2005 and 2007, during the period he was out on the post-conviction ruling, with more than $7.6 million in proceeds attributed to the operation.10Daily Record. Mob Boss Morris Wants to Withdraw Racketeering Plea He and five other high-level defendants, including top New Jersey capo Ralph V. Perna, his sons Joseph and John Perna, family member John Mangrella, and Lucchese ruling-panel member Matthew Madonna, pleaded guilty to racketeering on June 17, 2015, before Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto.
Taccetta later tried to withdraw the plea, citing concerns about possible federal tax-evasion exposure and a desire to negotiate a shorter term. Judge Ahto set a deadline for a formal withdrawal motion but proceeded to sentencing. On September 30, 2015, Taccetta received eight years in state prison for first-degree racketeering, to run concurrently with his existing life sentence.11Daily Record. Morris Mob Boss Gets 8 Years Racketeering
Where the Case Stands Now
Taccetta remains in New Jersey state prison, serving life plus ten years from his 1993 conviction and a concurrent eight-year term from the 2015 Operation Heat plea. He must serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole. His motion for a new trial, built on the claim that the FBI dental records analysis was withheld from his defense in violation of Brady v. Maryland, is pending before Judge Vicari in Ocean County.