Vincent Meli

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. His father was a member of the Detroit Partnership along with his uncle Angelo Meli. His cousin, Maria, married Jack Tocco, future crime boss of the family. In 1944, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Enlisting in the United States Army soon after graduation, ==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. 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, president of Pontiac, Michigan's Teamster Local 614, during federal investigations into labor union corruption. ==Death==

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