Anthony Tassone, reputed Gambino soldier, dead at 82
Anthony Tassone Sr., reputed mob boss of Mercer County and one of the last remnants of the city's old-school gangsters, died Thursday at his home in Ewing. He was 82.
Tassone, who was formerly connected to the Gambino organized crime family, was a colorful character who once testified in court he made his living "playing cards and shooting dice." Much of his business was conducted in the neighborhoods of North Trenton that transitioned from heavily Italian to mostly black over the last several decades of his lifetime.
According to court rulings, Tassone was also involved in fixing horse races. He served four years of a 30-year sentence in federal prison for race fixing in the 1970s in Rhode Island, then again between 1983 and 1984 for doing so in Michigan.
He also served time in state prison for orchestrating the armed robbery and kidnapping of the wife and daughter of prominent dentist Arnold Gordon in 1972.
Recently, Tassone had been living quietly in his Nursery Drive residence after he was declared incompetent to stand trial for charges regarding the running of a numbers game in 2001.
He is survived by a large family and many friends, some of whom expressed their condolences in the Times online Guest Book.
"Tass always treated me fairly, and was a good and faithful friend to me and our family," said Mike Kuzma. "He will always be remembered as a hard worker, who cared for those around him."
Albert Stark of Lawrence law firm Stark & Stark expressed his sympathies to the family.
"I want to extend to you and the family my heartfelt condolences," Stark wrote. "I will remember him as a friend whose word I could trust, a man with a terrific sense of humor. I knew how much he loved you and the family."
"He was and always will be one of a kind," Stark said.
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