[1] From 1933 to 1951, Moretti, in association with Joe Adonis, Settimo Accardi and Abner Zwillman, ran lucrative gambling dens in New Jersey and upstate New York.
[3] In the late 1940s, Moretti became acquainted with comedians Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis while they were performing at Bill Miller's Riviera nightclub in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
In earlier years, Moretti and Abner "Longy" Zwillman were watching the club's cardroom when it was previously owned by Ben Marden.
In 1947, Martin, Lewis, Sinatra, and comedian Milton Berle all performed at the wedding reception of Moretti's stepsister.
While the other mobsters refused to testify by repeatedly invoking the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides legal protection against self-incrimination, the garrulous Moretti told jokes, spoke candidly, and generally played it up for the cameras.
[citation needed] As it was being alleged that Moretti's mental condition was possibly deteriorating from advanced-stage syphilis,[4] it was feared that he was becoming too talkative.
'[5] On October 4, 1951, Moretti was lunching with four other men at Joe’s Elbow Room Restaurant in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
[1] The waitress was able to tentatively identify the man who brought him to the restaurant as Anastasia Crime Family capo John "Johnny Roberts" Robilotto.