After returning to Detroit, Tocco joined his cousin Giuseppe Zerilli and Angelo Meli in backing the Giannola Brothers' bootlegging operations.

On August 11, 1920, he was arrested for the murder of Antonio Badalamenti, a Vitale Gang leader killed in retaliation for an attack on Giuseppe Manzello and Angelo Polizzi.

Not long after this arrest, Zerilli and Tocco were barred from participating in the legal beer business by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and were ordered to sell their interest in the Pheiffer Brewing.

[6] The outfit's involvement with Hazel Park began in 1948 following the visit of a local auto dealer, Waldo Andrews to the law office of James Bellanca.

Andrews then went on to fill Bellanca in with the details of the company plans, which centered around the proposed construction of an automobile or harness racing track in Hazel Park, Michigan.

Bellanca started soliciting for investors, who happened to be Tocco and Joe Zerilli, through this they formed a second corporation, named Hazel Park Racing Association.