Born 'Giuseppe Zerilli in Terrasini, Sicily to Anthony and Rosalie Zerilli. He immigrated to the United States at age 17. Working as a laborer with the Detroit Gas Company, Zerilli reportedly founded the Purple Gang with William Joseph "Bugs Bill" Bernstein, Abe Bernstein, Harry Fleisher and Louis Fleisher at the onset of Prohibition. Zerilli began working with mobster Gaspar Milazzo to expand into loansharking, extortion, narcotics, labor racketeering, and bookmaking.