Bonanno Soldier forced loan sharking victim to strip naked

Bonanno Soldier forced loan sharking victim to strip naked

  October 09, 2024    Dapper_Don

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A Bonanno crime-family soldier called “The Maniac” forced one of his loan-sharking victims to get naked to see if he was wearing a wire, barking, “Take off your f–king pants right now!” prosecutors said Tuesday.

John Ragano, 62, allegedly made associate Vincent Martino strip while threatening to “slap the s–t out of him” if he was wearing a wire for the feds during a meeting July 5, 2023, just five days before Ragano was to be sent to prison in a Brooklyn federal racketeering case.

“OK, well, then take off your f–king s–t right now, my man. Take off your f–king pants right now, lemme see, I want to see,” a raging Ragano allegedly instructed Martino at his office when the underling denied being wired up.

Martino, who apparently had a wire on his clothes, followed Ragano’s instructions — and somehow still managed to secretly record the whole meeting anyway, even as he stood naked while two other men stood behind him with a crowbar and another with a tire iron, federal prosecutors have said.

“John Ragano forced a man who owed money to strip naked in a garage in Queens and threatened to slap the s–t out of him,” federal prosecutor Andrew Reich said at the beginning of Ragano’s trial in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Another mob associate, Broadway-show-tunes singer-turned-criminal Andrew Koslosky, 66, testified that he collected loan payments from Martino for Ragano — who he painted as a hair-trigger-tempered “big fella.

“He made it clear that people didn’t want to cross him,” Koslosky said.

During Kolosky’s testimony, jurors were shown a photo of how he recorded payments in an envelope named “Italian” — while another photo showed stacks of cash amounting to $6,200 that was paid by Martino in April 2021.

“When he put his fist down on the desk, the whole room shook,” Koslosky said of Ragano, who is charged with extortion, harassing a witness and witness tampering.

Martino — who went into the marijuana trafficking business with Ragano — had taken a $150,000 loan from Ragano in February 2021 and he agreed to pay $2,050 in interest per week until the loan was paid off in full in cash, according to prosecutors.

But Martino stopped making payments at some point, and he began working with the feds in March 2023, when he agreed to start recording any conversations he had with Ragano and his debt collectors, Reich said.

Martino went on to make a slew of $1,000 payments after cooperating with the feds, but in June 2023, he was told by one of Ragano’s guys that the Mafioso wanted to discuss “an issue” with the loan in person, prosecutors alleged.

Martino then met with Ragano that July 5 and told Ragano that he wanted to stop repaying the loan.

Both men accused each other of working for the feds before Ragano made him strip off his clothes, according to court papers.

The alleged shakedown came just five days before Ragano was to report to prison for nearly five years after pleading guilty to extortion charges in November 2022.

Martino testified late Tuesday that he resorted to taking “street loans” — slang for taking cash from the Mafia — during the pandemic in 2020 after falling on hard times when his construction company failed to take off in 2018.

He racked up $125,000 in debt from members of the Colombo crime family before turning to the Bonannos for another $150,000 because he was falling behind on debt payments, Martino testified.

Martino wound up owing the mob $275,000, according to prosecutors.

Both Ragano and Martino were named in a major racketeering case that took down the Colombos — including boss Andrew “Mush” Russo — related to the infiltration of a Queens labor union in 2021.

Martino pleaded guilty in the same case in December 2022 to conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Ragano, also known by the nickname “Bazoo,” had previously served a 10-year prison stint after he was convicted in state court for kidnapping in 1999.

Martino will continue testifying Wednesday as he details how he snitched on Ragano.

Ragano’s lawyer, Ken Womble, admitted to jurors that Ragano was a member of the Mafia while downplaying the intimidation tactics alleged by prosecutors in his opening statements.

“This is a case about money amongst mobsters. That’s the whole story of this case,” Womble said, adding that “asking for a loan to be paid back is not a crime at all.

https://nypost.com/2024/10/08/us-news/bonanno-wiseguy-john-ragano-forced-loan-shark-victim-to-strip-naked-feds/

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Colombo Underboss says his net worth is $5K and is almost homeless on the eve of sentencing

Colombo Underboss says his net worth is $5K and is almost homeless on the eve of sentencing

  January 09, 2024    Dapper_Don

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Crime really didn’t pay for a reputed Colombo family underboss — who once again is claiming poverty as he asks for leniency when he’s sentenced for a union shakedown scheme.

Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo, 86, is so short on cash that he might become homeless if he loses his federally subsidized senior housing while he’s in the can, his lawyer wrote to a federal judge this month. His net worth is just $5,092, according to his lawyer.

Castellazzo is slated to be sentenced for money laundering conspiracy on Jan. 22.

“While Mr. Castellazzo was not evicted during his approximately six-month period of pretrial detention earlier in this case, a sentence that exposes him to far more time in custody would risk his eviction,” his lawyer, Ilana Haramati, wrote in a Jan. 3 sentencing letter to Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Hector Gonzalez.

“In his late 80s, he would be homeless. Without access to subsidized senior housing, he is unlikely to be able to afford another apartment.”

Castellazzo also cast himself as a brokefella with a laundry list of medical conditions at a 2013 extortion sentencing in Brooklyn Federal Court.

His lawyer at the time said Castellazzo and his wife were living in a modest mobile home in New Jersey, getting by on Social Security payments and food stamps.

In a 2021 feature story about Castellazzo’s life, NJ.com reported that he and his wife reported a combined monthly income of $1,115 when she filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and they paid $450 a month to live in the mobile home.

Hard times or not, he still got hard time — Judge Kiyo Matsumoto still sentenced him to more than five years behind bars, pointing out his decades-spanning criminal career, and noting that he brought up his medical condition in a 2002 sentencing.

Castellazzo and his wife moved into a HUD-subsidized rental apartment complex, Stafford by the Bay, in Manahawkin, N.J., in 2018. He’s lived alone there since her death, Haramati wrote.

Castellazzo could face between 24 to 30 months behind bars after pleading guilty in his most recent case, which stems from a takedown of the entire leadership of the Colombo crime family.

The crime family’s labor union shakedown started in 2001, and by 2019, the Colombos were trying to turn the Queens union, which represented construction workers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, into a mob-run operation.

All of the 14 defendants busted in the case have taken a plea, except for the Colombo boss, Andrew “Mush” Russo, who died in April 2022 at age 87.

Haramati also argued that Castellazzo’s failing health should factor into his sentence, pointing to how a recent detainee at Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center was not sent to a medical facility for several weeks despite a highly contagious MRSA infection.

“Mr. Castellazzo’s long term care cannot be entrusted to the (Bureau of Prisons) — the BOP’s recent track record caring for sick and elderly inmates is nothing short of appalling,” she wrote.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/01/08/colombo-underboss-the-claw-cries-poverty-says-he-could-wind-up-homeless/

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Likely future Boss of the Colombo family sentenced to 5 years in prison for racketeering

Likely future Boss of the Colombo family sentenced to 5 years in prison for racketeering

  December 17, 2023    Dapper_Don

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The reputed "heir apparent" to a New York City Mafia family doesn't want to be promoted to godfather, his lawyer said in court Friday.

Theodore "Skinny Teddy" Persico, a nephew of two late Colombo crime family bosses, plans to turn his back on the mob and go straight when he finishes his latest prison term, lawyer Joseph Corozzo said.

"He has no desire to be boss," he said.

Persico, 60, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for racketeering in the Colombo family's 20-year-shakedown of a Queens-based construction union.

Before learning his punishment, Persico told U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez that he was "ready and willing to accept anything you feel I deserve."

"I want to go home and move my family and business to New Jersey, to get out of the New York City area," he said in federal court in Brooklyn. "I'm getting old. This is not how it should be. I need to change myself. I'm not looking to hurt anybody like I did in the past."

Persico's fiancee, Nicole Russo, owns a Staten Island auto-body shop that he ran before his most recent arrest, according to court papers.

Prosecutors have said Persico was named "heir apparent" of the Colombo family during a November 2020 meeting of high-level gangsters at a Brooklyn restaurant.

Persico — whose late uncle, Carmine "the Snake" Persico, was a Colombo boss — was allegedly slated to take over in May 2023, when he finished three years of supervised release from prison.

But he ended up being charged in a September 2021 indictment that targeted the Colombos' entire ruling hierarchy, known as the "administration."

Days after Persico pleaded guilty in July, the Gangland News website reported that the Colombos had picked Robert "Little Robert" Donofrio as their acting boss.

Persico's co-defendants included another uncle, then-Colombo boss Andrew "Mush" Russo, who died in April 2022 while awaiting trial.

Reputed Colombo consigliere Ralph DiMatteo, who on Tuesday was sentenced to three years in prison, avoided arrest by flying to Florida a day before everyone else was rounded up by the FBI.

DiMatteo made headlines when a photo that showed him looking more than a little like Tony Soprano as he lounged in a pool was posted on social media while he was briefly on the lam.

https://themessenger.com/news/mafia-mobster-new-york-boss-sentenced-prison-extortion-theodore-teddy-persico-carmine-snake

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Colombo Consigliere sentenced to 3 years for union extortion

Colombo Consigliere sentenced to 3 years for union extortion

  December 13, 2023    Dapper_Don

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An “old school” Colombo crime family consigliere who notoriously was photographed lounging shirtless in a swimming pool was sentenced to three years behind bars for a labor union extortion plot.

Ralph DiMatteo, 68, called “No. 3” by his fellow mafioso, was sentenced in Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday, after his 2021 indictment alongside the entire Colombo leadership for shaking down a Queens construction union.

“He’s old school,” DiMatteo’s lawyer, Gerald McMahon, told Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Hector Gonzalez. “Mr. DiMatteo did wrong. He accepted responsibility. He took a plea. He’s taking his medicine. He wants it to be on him.”

DiMatteo pleaded guilty to racketeering in July, admitting to extortion and money laundering. One of his underlings, Vincent “Vinny Unions” Ricciardo, pressured a high-ranking union official into paying a $2,600 monthly “pension” to the mob family for nearly 20 years — nearly $600,000 in total.

All 14 suspects in the case have pleaded guilty — except for family head Andrew “Mush” Russo, who died in April 2022 at age 87.

Other co-defendants include underboss Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo and Theodore “Skinny Teddy” Persico Jr. — the nephew of notorious Colombo boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico and the heir apparent to the crime family

The Colombos also pressured a health fund associated with the union into picking mob-friendly vendors and paying $10,000 a month in tribute. DiMatteo was directly responsible for overseeing Ricciardo, and the consigliere was caught on wiretapped conversations commanding Ricciardo to move faster with his extortion efforts.

“Part of the privilege of being towards the top is that you don’t have to get your hands dirty yourself. You have other people do that on your behalf,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gibaldi said at DiMatteo’s sentencing.

When the judge asked DiMatteo if he wanted to make a statement, he replied, “I’m fine, thank you.”

DiMatteo was the only member of the 14 Colombos indicted in 2021 to initially evade arrest, after he traveled to Florida the day before. He surrendered three days later, after his son, Angelo DiMatteo, posted a picture on Twitter of his shirtless dad casually hanging poolside.

Angelo also posted a rat emoji on the social media site, suggesting someone in the Colombo family squealed to the feds.

DiMatteo, who’s set to surrender Jan. 15, told reporters Tuesday he had no regrets showing off his beach bod in the photo.

“Why?” he asked. “It was a great picture.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/12/12/colombo-crime-family-consigliere-gets-3-years-for-union-extortion/

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Colombo family heir apparent pleads guilty to union shakedown

Colombo family heir apparent pleads guilty to union shakedown

  July 12, 2023    Dapper_Don

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The heir apparent to the Colombo crime family pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking part in a labor union extortion plot that led the feds to bust the Mafia clan’s entire leadership in 2021.

Theodore “Skinny Teddy” Persico Jr., the nephew of notorious Colombo boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico,” pleaded guilty to racketeering in Brooklyn Federal Court for what will likely be a six-year federal prison sentence.

Persico, 59, is the latest bigwig in the once-powerful Colombo family to take a plea in the case which brought down then-boss Andrew “Mush” Russo, underboss Benjamin “Benji” Castellazzo, consigliere Ralph DiMatteo and capos Richard Ferrara and Vincent Ricciardo.

DiMatteo pleaded guilty on July 6. Once Ricciardo enters his guilty plea on Friday, all of the 14 suspects in the case will have taken a plea — except for Russo, who died in April 2022 at age 87.

The labor union shakedown started in 2001. By 2019, the family’s hierarchy started plotting to turn the Queens union, which represented construction workers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, into a mob-run operation — taking scoops out of officials’ salaries and pillaging its health fund.

Ricciardo, known as “Vinnie Unions,” threatened to murder a construction union boss who was forced to surrender a portion of his annual income to the mob, according to the feds.

A month before Russo’s death, federal prosecutors described Persico as the “boss-to-be” of the Colombos in a letter opposing his release on bond.

His career of crime started in 1981 at age 17, when he was busted for attempted grand larceny on Staten Island and later spent 17 years behind bars for drug dealing until his release in 2004.

The prison sentence didn’t stop him from doing the mob’s deadly business. In 1993, while on a brief furlough for his grandmother’s wake, he ordered members of his crew to kill Joseph Scopo, a member of a rival Colombo faction.

He pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy in 2012 in exchange for a 10-year sentence, and was freed on supervised release in May 2020.

“I assure you I’ll do my best not to be here again,” Persico Jr. pledged to Brooklyn Federal Judge Sandra Townes at his 2014 sentencing.

Persico’s future in the family became a topic of conversation during a meeting of the Colombo minds at Brooklyn’s notorious Brennan and Carr restaurant in 2020. Persico was tapped to take over for Russo once his supervised release ended, according to the feds.

On Wednesday, Persico pleaded guilty to racketeering, admitting to extortion conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy in connection with the labor union plot.

Though the charge carries a 20-year maximum sentence, prosecutors don’t expect to ask for more than 71 months, and he can appeal if the sentence exceeds 105 months.

Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Hector Gonzalez set his sentencing for Oct. 17, and when Persico chimed in that date was his fiancee’s birthday, the jurist told him, “She can come to court.”

When asked when the wedding would take place, Persico’s lawyer Joseph Corozzo told reporters, “It depends on the sentence. Hopefully sooner than later.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-colombo-mob-boss-to-be-theodore-skinny-teddy-spersico-guilty-plea-20230712-bewchdkoafgcnass5ed43iypxq-story.html

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Colombo Consigliere pleads guilty to racketeering and awaits sentencing

Colombo Consigliere pleads guilty to racketeering and awaits sentencing

  July 06, 2023    Dapper_Don

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No swim trunks for this photo op.

A high-ranking gangster in the Colombo crime family who infamously appeared lounging shirtless in a swimming pool while on the lam pleaded guilty to racketeering Thursday.

Ralph DiMatteo, who prosecutors say was the clan’s consigliere, admitted to extortion, conspiracy and money laundering from 2020 to 2021 in Brooklyn federal court — including a scheme to threaten a union official identified only as “John Doe No. 1.”

The 68-year-old opted for a dark blazer, dark blue shirt and dark green tie in a sedate change from the picture of him posing shirtless in a pool — a snapshot that surfaced one day after DiMatteo was supposed to turn himself in September 2021.

The Colombo family’s third most powerful member memorably jetted to Florida a day before the feds charged 13 co-defendants with major raps, including labor racketeering, extortion and money laundering related to the infiltration of a Queens labor union.

In the photo, the wise guy appeared shirtless and half-submerged in a swimming pool with a gold crucifix resting against his burly chest.

But DiMatteo’s days on the run were cut short after his son posted the pool photo to Twitter — leading to his surrendering just a day later.

The sweeping indictment involved other reputable Colombo leaders — including then-boss Andrew “Mush” Russo, who died in April 2022 while awaiting trial, and underboss Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo, who is set to plead guilty Friday.

Captains Theodore Persico Jr., Richard Ferrara, and Vincent Ricciardo are also named in an indictment.

DiMatteo didn’t mention the Mafia or the Colombo family during his appearance — only referring to the group as “the enterprise.”

Judge Hector Gonzalez said the guidelines for sentencing DiMatteo range between 41 and 51 months in prison.

He will be sentenced on Oct. 5.

When approached outside the courtroom, DiMatteo turned shy.

“Give us a break, will you fellas?” he said.

https://nypost.com/2023/07/06/high-ranking-gangster-ralph-dimatteo-who-lounged-shirtless-in-a-pool-while-on-the-lam-pleads-guilty-to-racketeering/

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Colombo family Boss remembered at Brooklyn funeral

Colombo family Boss remembered at Brooklyn funeral

  April 23, 2022    Dapper_Don

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He may have been a cold-blooded mob boss who used threats of violence to get what he wanted — but to his granddaughter he was just “Poppy.”

Terrifying Colombo family boss Andrew “Mush” Russo was remembered Saturday at his funeral by about 100 mourners in Brooklyn, including his granddaughter, Annie, who eulogized him as an “always loving” family man. 

That family man had been free on $10 million bail on a federal racketeering case when he died this week at 87. 

He was indicted in September along with 13 others, the crew accused of trying to infiltrate a Queens labor union by using “direct threats of bodily harm to control the management of the labor union and caused it to make decisions that benefitted the Colombo crime family.”

A cousin of the late Colombo boss Carmine Persico, Russo was said to be reluctant to retire from the “family” business saying on one FBI recording, “I can’t walk away. I can’t rest.” 

Russo was released on home confinement on Long Island in October because of his ill health.

His farewell had many of the trappings of a mob funeral with a big floral tribute outside Our Lady of Peace Church in Brooklyn which said “Poppy” and mourners in black suits.

While the feds alleged Russo and his co-defendants were engaged in “loansharking, money laundering, fraud, and drug trafficking,” his granddaughter remembered him as a guy who visited a local nail salon last Christmas to buy gift certificates. 

“We can’t tell you how much your grandfather helped us out,” the granddaughter, whose name couldn’t be confirmed, quoted the workers at the salon as saying.

She also remembered how her grandfather loved to cook.

“The kitchen looked like a tornado hit when he was done, but he was always so proud of the meals he so lovingly created,” she said. 

She also seemed to allude to his connection to the underworld by saying her granddad missed the people who were “still away.”

“He always dreamed of the day he would sit around the table with his cousins and his friends and look at them and know they were finally free. Sadly he never got that chance,” she said.

https://nypost.com/2022/04/23/colombo-family-boss-andrew-mush-russo-remembered-at-brooklyn-funeral/

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Veteran Colombo family Boss dies at the age of 87 while out on $10 million bond for racketeering charges

Veteran Colombo family Boss dies at the age of 87 while out on $10 million bond for racketeering charges

  April 21, 2022    Dapper_Don

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Colombo family kingpin Andrew “Mush” Russo, the mob veteran busted for racketeering last year before myriad health woes led to his release on a $10 million bond, died Monday night, his attorney confirmed to the Daily News.

The 87-year-old Russo, a cousin of the late and legendary boss Carmine Persico, was arrested in a huge federal sweep last September over the crime family’s attempt to violently seize control of a local labor union, according to court documents. He was turned loose a month later and died in the company of family without facing trial in the pending case, attorney Jeffrey Lichtman said Wednesday.

“He had a number of medical issues,” Lichtman told the News. “I don’t know what ultimately did him in. He was not well when he was arrested, which is why we were successful in getting him out on bail.

“I would hope there is some small solace for the family in that he was able to die surrounded by his loved ones as opposed to in a prison.”

The federal charges alleged that Russo and the rest of the family administration “used extortionate means, including direct threats of bodily harm,” in their plot to snap up the labor union.

The veteran gangster, caught on a wiretap before his 2011 guilty plea to federal charges, offered a glimpse of his management style: “I don’t hesitate, I’ve never hesitated” to use violence against mob colleagues who stepped out of line.

Russo, who lived in Glen Head, L.I., was convicted alongside his relative Persico in a 1986 mob trial on racketeering charges, and was reportedly bumped up to acting boss after his release from prison eight years later.

In late 2020, Russo assembled the family’s top hierarchy in late 2020 for a mob sitdown at the legendary Brennan and Carr restaurant in Brooklyn as federal agents surreptitiously watched, the Daily News previously reported.

Russo was long involved in the Colombo family hierarchy, serving as an acting underboss in the mid-1970s before his 1994 promotion by the imprisoned Persico.

According to authorities, he became the official head of the family in 2010 after his parole on a prior arrest ended. He then continued to head the Colombos from behind bars after his conviction on a separate charge one year later.

Russo, freed in June 2013, stayed on in the top spot until his arrest in last year’s massive racketeering sweep that initially left him behind bars with 13 other Colombo leaders and associates.

Back in 1981, Russo was believed dead by the FBI when he suddenly disappeared — only to stunningly resurface at a court hearing where he surrendered to authorities.

The mob boss was also a schoolboy pal of “The Godfather” actor James Caan, who was subpoenaed to appear at Russo’s 1985 Manhattan Federal Court trial.

“We grew up together,” Caan told reporters at the time. “I’ve never heard anything about this. He’s got eight grandchildren. This is unreal.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-mob-boss-death-colombo-andrew-mush-russo-20220420-ux4bwytflzh2pdtavbqmtcbohe-story.html

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Judge approves $1.6M release of ailing 84 year old Colombo Underboss

Judge approves $1.6M release of ailing 84 year old Colombo Underboss

  March 12, 2022    Dapper_Don

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A federal judge in New York has approved the release of an ailing 84-year-old New Jersey mob underboss accused of leading the Colombo crime family’s attempted takeover of a Queens-based labor union on a $1.6 million bond.

On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge James R. Cho granted Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo’s release on bond and home detention with electronic monitoring and restrictions on travel and contact with victims and witnesses in the case following a closed hearing in Brooklyn Federal Court. The judge also barred him from appearing at the labor union office at the center of the indictment.

Afterward, Jennifer R. Louis-Jeune, Castellazzo’s attorney, confirmed her client was set to be released Wednesday.

“Mr. Castellazzo has been released on bond,” she said, “and will now hopefully get the healthcare he needs and prepare his defense.”

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.

Castellazzo, of Manahawkin, had been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since September when federal authorities indicted him and 13 others in an alleged scheme to infiltrate and take over the labor union and its health care benefits programs. Prosecutors charged Castellazzo with racketeering, extortion, and money laundering conspiracies.

Last week, Louis-Jeune filed a motion for his release, citing his chronic health and conditions during confinement that she described as “nothing short of inhumane.” She also wrote that Castellazo wasn’t receiving proper medical care and had been subjected to 23-hour lockdowns.

Prosecutors previously opposed Castellazzo’s release, citing his lengthy criminal history and role in the crime family. But in a letter to Cho last week, prosecutors did not contest his release after learning of Castellazzo’s deteriorating health.

Last week, Louis-Jeune told NJ Advance Media that prosecutors had offered Castellazzo a plea deal, but it is unclear if he would accept it. The attorney said the evidence she was reviewed so far against her client “is not just weak, it is non-existent.”

In the charging documents, prosecutors said recorded conversations described Castellazzo as the man in charge of the Colombo crime family’s takeover of the union and its health fund. According to the indictment, they contend authorities spotted him with associates on two occasions in Brooklyn, where he discussed the takeover.

But Louis-Jeune wrote in a court filing last week that the government “does not have a single recording of Mr. Castellazzo’s voice.”

Castellazzo now joins a list of other Colombo crime family leaders and associates who have been released as the criminal case proceeds. Since October, Andrew Russo, the 87-year-old head of the Colombo crime family, has been free on a $10 million bond.

https://www.nj.com/news/2022/03/nj-mobster-accused-of-leading-union-takeover-attempt-released-on-16m-bond.html

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A day in The Life of the Colombo Family as a mobster

A day in The Life of the Colombo Family as a mobster

  December 06, 2021    Dapper_Don

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Former Captain explains giving 25% of earnings to Colombo family leadership

Former Captain explains giving 25% of earnings to Colombo family leadership

  November 27, 2021    Dapper_Don

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Aging Colombo Boss posts $10M bail while another is denied compassionate release

Aging Colombo Boss posts $10M bail while another is denied compassionate release

  October 27, 2021    Dapper_Don

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The wheels of justice spun in different directions Wednesday for a pair of octogenarian Colombo crime family bosses.

Current leader Andrew “Mush” Russo, charged in a lucrative and long-running mob union shakedown, won his freedom with a $10 million bond while his long-imprisoned Colombo predecessor Victor “Little Vic” Orena was denied compassionate release despite his fast-deteriorating health in separate Brooklyn Federal Court rulings.

Russo, 87, secured his home detention from Chief Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak in part with properties worth $7 million, although his earliest taste of freedom would be Thursday once the paperwork is complete and a prosecution doctor conducts an evaluation, officials said. Pollak found Russo posed no threat to the community due to his health issues, including some form of dementia.

“If they want to get some more doctors to reach the same conclusion, they’re certainly welcome to do that,” said defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman. “He’s also been shackled by both ankles to a bed 24 hours a day and the government told the judge that Andrew was receiving ‘excellent around the clock care.’

“That didn’t fly either.”

Orena, the family boss during a bloody internal family war where 15 people died in the early ‘90s, was kept behind bars by Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Eric Komitee despite the 87-year-old gangster’s myriad health woes — including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, glaucoma and heart problems.

Orena will remain inside the Federal Medical Center Devers in Massachusetts after the judge’s 10-page Wednesday decision.

“A strain of cases ... has emerged in which the offenders’ criminal history is so long, and their victims so numerous, that even serious health conditions do not suffice to merit relief,” the judge wrote. “This case falls squarely in that category.”

One of the those slain during the mob war was an innocent 17-year-old shot six times while working behind the counter of a Bay Ridge bagel shop.

The Orena faction battled forces loyal to then-jailed Colombo boss Carmine “Junior” Persico, with Russo moving into the top spot after Persico’s death in 2019. Orena’s attorney, in a hearing earlier this month, said the deranged ex-boss was now convinced that he was president of the United States.

Russo, under terms of his release, would remain under home detention, GPS monitoring, phone monitoring and a ban on contact with his 13 co-defendants or anyone else affiliated with La Cosa Nostra.

Prosecutors were permitted to have one of their doctors evaluate Russo in hopes the judge will reverse her decision. In court papers opposing his release, the feds cited Russo’s appearance last year at a gathering of the family hierarchy and his hosting of a meeting with two Colombo co-defendants this past March in his Long Island home.

“Releasing the defendant on the terms proposed by defense counsel would return him to his home, from where he carried out much of charged conduct, and give him the full resources of the Colombo crime family,” prosecutors argued in court papers.

In the Orena case, his history of failing health fell far short of swaying Komitee.

“I have considered Orena’s arguments ... (and) I am left with the inescapable conclusion that any sentence short of the life term imposed ... would insufficiently reflect the seriousness of the offense conduct here and fail to provide just punishment,” he wrote.

Orena’s son Andrew said the family’s attorney would appeal the decision, while acknowledging his sickly father was running out of time.

“Yes, he’s in bad shape,” said Andrew Orena. “So we’re forced to do it this way. So we’ll see. We have to push.”

Komitee described Vic Orena as “a singular figure in the annals of the Colombo family” — which traces its roots to the legendary boss Joe Colombo.

“He rose to a leadership role, becoming acting boss in 1988, and his efforts to cling to power triggered a bloody war,” the judge wrote. “Orena oversaw a campaign of violence that resulted in a swath of death and serious injury.”

And he noted the difference between Orena and other mobsters granted shorter sentences despite their roles in organized crime violence, including Colombo capo Greg Scarpa and Bonanno family boss Joseph “Big Joe” Massino.

“These cases generally involved high-ranking defendants who elected to cooperate with the government, at serious risk to themselves,” Komitee found.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-colombo-mob-boss-orena-compassionate-release-20211027-p4alrthlkbgh7f7rhr2pevs3h4-story.html#nt=pf-single%20chain~top-left-chain~flex%20feature~curated~colombo-212p~P4ALRTHLKBGH7F7RHR2PEVS3H4~1~1~2~5~art%20yes

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Former Captain sends message to recently arrested Boss of the Colombo family

Former Captain sends message to recently arrested Boss of the Colombo family

  October 17, 2021    Dapper_Don

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Modern day mob plagued by management problems and lousy recruits

Modern day mob plagued by management problems and lousy recruits

  October 04, 2021    Dapper_Don

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The kiss of death for mob families isn’t necessarily from gang wars or snitches. These days, organized crime is further threatened by mismanagement, lousy hires, and half-baked succession plans.

Former mob investigators point to the case against Andrew Russo, the man federal prosecutors say heads the Colombo crime family, one of the five gangster clans that ruled the New York underworld for much of the last century.

The alleged management problems of the Colombo leader seem to mirror those of Tony Soprano, the fictional boss of the television mafia who struggled to choose a successor and keep his hands off the dirty work.

Mr. Russo was arrested on September 14 in a crippling takedown of the Colombo family’s executive leaders and middle managers. Prosecutors said in court documents that Mr. Russo, his deputy chief, consigliere, several captains and other subordinates carried out an alleged scheme for two decades to extort money from a New York City union and related health fund.

In hindsight, Russo’s executive mistakes included micromanaging subordinates and, at 87, hanging on to his job too long, said Scott Curtis, a former agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who investigated the family operation for years.

“I can’t walk away. I can’t rest, ”Russo said in one of his conversations secretly recorded by the FBI over the years and revealed in court documents.

Curtis, who is not involved in the court case, said Russo did not follow the best business practices established by past generations of bosses: maintaining a healthy distance between mischief and boss.

Russo, nicknamed “Mush,” was too practical, Curtis said. Prosecutors said in court documents that the alleged Colombo leader, who has seven previous convictions, knew the heart of the alleged crackdown.

“That’s why you see some of these guys getting arrested repeatedly,” said Curtis, who now works as vice president of investigations at Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. “They have to get their hands on all these minute details of the plan. “

That predisposes them to failure, he said, that is, to jail. Mr. Russo has pleaded not guilty to nine criminal charges, including charges spanning racketeering, extortion, money laundering, and conspiracy.

Curtis said the high-level micromanagement in the Colombo case reflected concerns about the incompetence of lower-level members.

A new generation of savants did not properly learn the business, according to former government researchers. Older members complain that millennials, who grew up in the suburbs rather than on city streets, are softer, dumber, and not as loyal as gangsters of the past. Also, they are always texting.

“Everything is on the phones with them,” said a former Colombo family member who knows some of the men accused in the case. A Colombo associate is accused of sending threatening text messages to a union official over extortion charges.

“Hey, this is the second text, there is not going to be a third,” wrote the associate, according to court records.

“I’m sure that’s frowned upon in mob circles,” former FBI agent and crisis management consultant Richard Frankel said of what appeared to be incriminating texts.

In the mid-20th century, the five New York mob families “operated like a McDonald’s franchise,” said Jerold Zimmerman, professor emeritus at the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester.

Illegal businesses, such as gambling houses, trafficking in illicit goods and corruption involving unions and construction companies, are operated independently, he said. Those in charge paid a portion of the proceeds to the boss, who kept the peace and handed out promotions, said Dr. Zimmerman, one of the authors of a book on business practices in New York criminal families.

One reason for the mafia’s decline is the FBI’s prosecution of organized crime in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of hundreds of experts. All five families are still operating, but their market reach has been reduced and membership has suffered.

Gangsters are trying to keep a low profile by reducing violence. “They certainly don’t kill people like they used to,” said Michael Gaeta, a former FBI agent who spent 13 years investigating organized crime in New York. “At the end of the day, it draws too much heat.”

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York lobbied to keep Mr. Russo behind bars while awaiting trial by presenting transcripts of recordings that they allege show him as a danger to society. Jeffrey Lichtman, Russo’s attorney, said the recordings were more than a decade old.

“In terms of danger, he’s an 87-year-old man and they are relying on tapes from 11 years ago,” Lichtman said.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.

Some alleged Colombo members appear to have been pining for an administrative shakeup, court documents show.

Prosecutors allege that Colombo leaders at a meeting at a Brooklyn restaurant last year decided that Russo would eventually be replaced by Theodore Persico Jr., the nephew of Carmine “The Snake” Persico, a long-time suspected Colombo crime boss. Mr. Persico died while serving a sentence in federal prison two years ago at age 85.

Persico Jr., also a defendant in the current case, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said a recording of the investigation captured a suspected Colombo soldier saying extortion from the union would be “easy” once Persico took control of the family. “The guy is the best man in the world to deal with,” she said, according to transcripts of court documents.

In another transcribed recording, the soldier regretted that Mr. Russo had no intention of resigning. “The problem is that this old man wanted to be the boss all his life,” he said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lousy-management-knucklehead-hires-plague-operations-of-real-life-sopranos-11633360973?mod=searchresults_pos1&page=1

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Federal judge refuses to grant bail for ailing Colombo Captain Vinny Unions

Federal judge refuses to grant bail for ailing Colombo Captain Vinny Unions

  October 03, 2021    Dapper_Don

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A jailed Colombo crime family capo’s bid for bail was shot down by a federal judge.

Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge James Cho flatly rejected the appeal from lawyers representing ailing but still ornery 75-year-old Vincent Ricciardo, caught on wiretaps threatening to whack a union boss before his arrest last month for a massive union shakedown.

“The defendant is a significant danger to the community, given his history,” Cho ruled immediately after oral arguments Friday in a remote hearing. “There were allegations as recently as June of this year of threatening a witness ... and there’s a risk of flight.”

Arguments by defense counsel Kelley Sharkey about her client’s assorted health woes fell on deaf ears as prosecutors detailed Ricciardo’s 50-year association with organized crime and cited audio recordings of his violent threats made during the probe into a local labor union.

“We will send people he don’t know right to his f---ing house,” Ricciardo said in one conversation recounted by prosecutors. In another, Ricciardo appeared to reference his failing health in the midst of a threat to kill a union boss.

“Let me tell you something,” he declared. “To prove a point? I would f---ing shoot him right in front of his wife and kids. Call the police ... How long you think I’m gonna last anyway?”

The mob veteran — supposedly too weak to put on his own socks — was currently housed in the Mecklenburg County Jail in North Carolina pending his return to New York. He was one of 14 suspects, including reputed Colombo boss Andrew “Mush” Russo and his two top aides, busted last month in the Mafia takedown.

Federal prosecutor Devon Lash noted the defendant’s poor health did nothing to slow his role in the criminal conspiracy.

“He is a danger to (a union official) regardless of his medical condition,” said Lash. “What we’re talking about here is a longtime member of a violent organized crime family, and he has a leadership role.”

Sharkey detailed an assortment of medical issues facing the senior citizen gangster, including heart problems, kidney disease and severe breathing issues.

“He is a hot mess and I request the government allow us to proffer a bail package and allow the defendant to be released at this time to his wife in North Carolina while under medical care,” she said.

Prosecutors countered that this was the third federal labor racketeering case against Ricciardo, known as “Vinny Unions” among his mob friends. And Cho was hardly swayed by the defense contentions about the need to let the mobster return to his wife and home.

“Defendant is charged with multiple serious crimes of violence,” said Cho. “He threatened to kill someone ... This application fails to rebut the presumption that he should be detained.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-colombo-capo-no-bail-20211002-5fieqjmgmrgtjapkvyxhw3msha-story.html

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Leadership of the Colombo family met multiple times at famous restaurant to discuss future of the mob

Leadership of the Colombo family met multiple times at famous restaurant to discuss future of the mob

  September 26, 2021    Dapper_Don

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Andrew "Mush" Russo, an alleged Colombo crime family boss, arrives at Brooklyn Federal Court in 2013.  

The to-die-for hot roast beef sandwich wasn’t the only thing on the menu when the Colombo family hierarchy gathered at Brooklyn’s legendary Brennan and Carr restaurant.

The Daily News has learned the crime family’s top echelon assembled on two separate occasions to discuss mob business inside the 83-year-old eatery last November, much to the surprise of a somewhat amused management.

“That’s interesting,” said veteran Brennan and Carr manager Richie Egan, a smile on his face. “I never even knew.”

Federal investigators, on the other hand, were well aware of the sessions led by Colombo boss Andrew “Mush” Russo. Court documents indicate both meetings were under law enforcement surveillance as the 86-year-old Russo, underboss Benjamin Castellazo, consigliere Ralph DiMatteo and a pair of family capos discussed a change at the top of the family leadership and the ongoing shakedown of a local union.

Ralph DiMatteo

Like a plate of pasta and a glass of red wine, the mob and New York’s restaurant business remain inextricably linked a full 90 years after Guiseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria was gunned down inside Coney Island’s Nuova Villa Tammaro on April 15, 1931.

The scene after Guiseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria was killed inside Coney Island’s Nuova Villa Tammaro in 1931.

On July 12, 1979, Bonanno boss Carmine Galante ate his last meal on the patio of Joe & Mary’s Italian-American Restaurant in Brooklyn, with a final course of lethal lead. The dead don was famously photographed with his post-lunch cigar still clenched between his teeth.

The July 12, 1979 murder of Bonanno boss Carmine Galante at Joe & Mary’s Italian-American Restaurant in Brooklyn.

And just before Christmas 1985, Gambino boss Big Paul Castellano and driver Tommy Billotti parked illegally outside Spark’s Steak House before heading inside for some prime rib with fellow mobsters.

Neither made it to the front door, gunned down by four shooters waiting on orders from new boss John Gotti.

Death is not the only pitfall in public dining. On occasion, the assembled Mafiosi were caught on bugs that no Health Department inspector would ever find.

Back in 2003, veteran Genovese capo John “Buster” Ardito wound up with agita after discovering recording devices tucked beneath tables at two of his favorite New Rochelle restaurants.

And 16 years prior, wiretaps inside the ladies’ room of a Hoboken restaurant captured Gambino family consigliere Bobby Manna discussing a plot to whack both Gambino boss Gotti and his brother Gene.

“We’re gonna be paying for this, you know, for the rest of our lives,” one of the plotters observed during the recorded discussion.

The body of Carmine Galante is taken out of Joe & Mary's Restaurant on Knickerbocker Ave. in Brooklyn in 1979.

Former Bonanno boss “Big Joey” Massino, a man who liked a good meal, opened his own Queens restaurant: CasaBlanca, where a sign promised “Fine Italian Cuisine” to its patrons. The eatery became a meeting place for the mob, with Bonanno capos among the regulars at the Maspeth business.

Among the menu favorites: Ravioli with scallops and portabella mushrooms.

According to court documents, the Colombo leadership first assembled inside Brennan and Carr in mid-November before returning for a second sitdown on Nov. 19. Russo did not attend the latter meeting, although his designated Colombo family successor Theodore Persico Jr. showed up.

And once again, so did the feds.

The 58-year-old Skinny Teddy, identified as a family captain in court papers, is a nephew of the late Colombo family boss Carmine “Junior” Persico.

The Brennan and Carr restaurant on Nostrand Ave. in Brooklyn.

After Gotti’s ascension to the Gambino seat of power, the Dapper Don’s favorite restaurants received a boost from his patronage: The since-shuttered Da Noi on the Upper East Side and the late, lamented Taormino in Little Italy became instant hot spots. He was known for paying in cash, and leaving generous tips.

And the April 7, 1972, mob hit of Colombo family legend “Crazy Joey” Gallo inside Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry St. lives on in pop culture, featured prominently in director Martin Scorsese’s 2019 film “The Irishman.”

Umbertos Clam House at 129 Mulberry St. where Joe Gallo was shot and killed.

The Brooklyn-born Gallo, killed at age 43 to end a long night celebrating his last birthday, was memorialized by Bob Dylan in a 1976 song with an oblique reference to the site of Joey’s last meal (shrimp, scungilli and clams).

“One day they blew him down in a clam bar in New York,” sang Dylan. “He could see it comin’ through the door as he lifted up his fork ... Joey, Joey. What made them want to blow you away?”

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-nyc-mob-restaurants-20210925-elugcddudndjriau4z4b7vazli-story.html#nt=pf-double%20chain~top-version-2021~flex%20feature~curated~colombo-936a~ELUGCDDUDNDJRIAU4Z4B7VAZLI~1~1~5~7~art%20yes

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Fugitive Colombo family Consigliere turns himself in to the FBI in NYC

Fugitive Colombo family Consigliere turns himself in to the FBI in NYC

  September 18, 2021    Dapper_Don

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Fugitive Colombo crime family consigliere turned himself in to the FBI in New York City Friday morning after his son posted - and later deleted - a picture of him sitting poolside in Florida, law enforcement sources told DailyMail.com. 

Ralph DiMatteo, 66, walked into the Brooklyn federal courthouse with his lawyer to surrender and was arraigned via teleconference on racketeering charges Thursday afternoon. 

He pleaded not guilty to all charges and will be held in jail until his next court appearance, which is scheduled for October 21.  

The alleged mobster was the only one to avoid arrest in Tuesday's sweeping federal raid targeting the leadership of the Colombo crime family. 

The alleged consigliere, or advisor to the crime boss, made national headlines after his son Angelo posted a picture of his dad - shirtless and waist-deep in a Florida pool - to his Twitter account on Wednesday and removed it by Thursday morning. 

DiMatteo's wife is pictured behind him, with her head at the edge of the pool as she relaxes and enjoys its waters.

He also tweeted a picture of a rat, suggesting the family is unhappy about snitches getting them in trouble, on Tuesday. That too has been removed. 

The indictment accuses the crime family of running a scheme involving labor union shakedowns, extortion, loansharking, drug trafficking and money laundering.

DiMatteo is accused of colluding with fellow defendants to devise a scheme to launder money from union healthcare contracts and payments.

DiMatteo is said to have done this through various channels linked to Joseph Bellantoni, who was named as a co-conspirator in the indictment, and eventually to the Colombo crime family's leaders, according to the federal indictment.

He was also accused of threatening bodily harm to control the management of the labor union that they were targeting and influencing decisions that benefitted the family. 

Reputed Colombo street boss Andrew "Andy Mush" Russo, 87, and his underboss, Benjamin "The Claw" Castellazzo, 83, were also scooped up by federal agents and New York police, along with seven other members of the Colombo crime family.

Among those charged was 75-year-old capo (captain) Vincent "Vinny Unions'"Ricciardo, who was recorded during a phone call in June threatening to kill a labor union official if he didn't play ball, according to the 19-count indictment.

The other captains, or capos, arrested include Richard Ferrara, 59, and Theodore "Skinny Teddy" Persico Jr., 58, who is the nephew of the late Colombo boss Carmine 'The Snake' Persico.

Colombo soldier Michael Uvino, 56, and associates Thomas Costa, 52, and Domenick Ricciardo, 56 - Vincent's cousin - were also booked.

'Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself,' FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll said concerning the indictment. 'The underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well.'

'These soldiers, consiglieres, underbosses, and bosses are obviously not students of history, and don't seem to comprehend that we're going to catch them. Regardless of how many times they fill the void we create in their ranks, our FBI Organized Crime Task Force, and our law enforcement partners, are positioned to take them out again, and again.'

According to the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators committed and are charged with a wide array of crimes – including extortion, loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking – on behalf of the Colombo organized crime family.

In 2019, the family sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the union's healthcare system directly to the administration of the Colombo crime family.

The Colombo family is one of five major mafia organizations in the northeastern United States. The others are the Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino and Bonanno families.

The latest indictments leave it unclear who remains to take control of the Colombo syndicate on the street.

The entire administration of the Colombo crime family, including Russo and Castellazzo, already pleaded guilty to a variety of mobster activities in 2012.

The New York mafia has been weakened by several blows in recent years, including arrests, fratricidal struggles and competition from other criminal organizations, but they are still considered active.

The reputed boss of the Gambino clan, Frank Cali, was shot and killed outside his home in the New York borough of Staten Island in March 2019.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10002561/Fugitive-Colombo-consigliere-surrenders-FBI.html

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Feds take down entire Colombo family administration in sweeping indictment

Feds take down entire Colombo family administration in sweeping indictment

  September 14, 2021    Dapper_Don

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A sweeping federal indictment has charged the entire leadership structure of the Colombo crime family in a scheme involving labor union shakedowns, extortion, loansharking, drug trafficking and money laundering.   

Reputed Colombo street boss Andrew "Mush" Russo, 87, and his underboss, Benjamin Castellazzo, 83, were scooped up by federal agents and New York police, along with seven other members of the Colombo crime family, a U.S. attorney spokesperson said on Tuesday. 

Russo's consigliere, Ralph DiMatteo, 66, was also charged in the indictment but remains on the run, prosecutors said. 

Among those charged was 75-year-old capo Vincent "Vinny Unions" Ricciardo, who was recorded during a phone call in June threatening to kill a labor union official if he didn't play ball, according to the 19-count indictment. 

'I'll put him in the ground right in front of his wife and kids, right in front of his f***ing house,' Ricciardo says in the disturbing recording described in the indictment.

'I'm not afraid to go to jail, let me tell you something, to prove a point? I would f***ing shoot him right in front of his wife and kids, call the police, f*** it, let me go, how long you think I'm gonna last anyway?' 

The other captains, or capos, arrested include Theodore Persico Jr., 58, - the nephew of the late Colombo boss Carmine Persico - and Richard Ferrara, 59. 

Colombo soldier Michael Uvino, 56, and associates Thomas Costa, 52, and Domenick Ricciardo, 56 - Vincent's cousin - were also booked.

The indictment against the crime family members lays out multiple schemes in a long-running campaign to infiltrate and take control of a Queens-based labor union and its affiliated health care benefit program, and to a conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with workplace safety certifications. 

Russo, Castellazzo, DiMatteo, Ferrara, Persico, Uvino, and Vincent and Domenick Ricciardo colluded with fellow defendants Erin Thompkins, 53, and Joseph Bellantoni, 39, among others, to devise a scheme to launder money from union healthcare contracts and payments through various channels linked to Bellantoni, and eventually to the Colombo crime family's leaders, according to the indictment.

'Today's charges describe a long-standing, ruthless pattern by the administration of the Colombo crime family, its captains, members and associates, of conspiring to exert control over the management of a labor union by threatening to inflict bodily harm on one of its senior officials and devising a scheme to divert and launder vendor contract funds from its health care benefit program,' Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Kasulis said of the high-profile arrests.

'In addition, for their own enrichment, the defendants conspired to engage in extortionate loansharking, money laundering and fraud, as well as drug trafficking.'

'This Office and its law enforcement partners are committed to dismantling organized crime families, eliminating their corrupt influence in our communities and protecting the independence of labor unions.' 

The feds also arrested a soldier for the Bonanno family, 59-year-old John "Maniac" Ragano, who is charged with loansharking, fraud and drug-trafficking offenses. 

Ragano is accused of leading a scheme to issue fraudulent workplace safety training certifications to construction workers, according to the indictment.

Rather than provide candidates the proper training, Ragano and fellow defendant and business partner, John Glover, 62, allegedly falsified federal paperwork, indicating hundreds of workers completed mandatory safety courses that they did not actually complete - or even attend.

Instead, various defendants used Ragano's pseudo-schools to conduct meetings involving Sicilian mafia members and to store stashes of illegal drugs.

Meanwhile they generated cash using the schools in Franklin Square and Ozone Park as 'certificate mills', charging $500 a pop for construction safety training certificates without providing any training or testing, according to the indictment. 

The final defendant, Vincent Martino, 43, was charged along with Vincent Ricciardo, Ragano, Costa, and Glover with conspiracy to distribute marijuana by transporting large shipments of the drug across state lines in vehicles from New York to Florida. 

'Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself,' FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll said concerning the indictment. 'The underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well.' 

'These soldiers, consiglieres, underbosses, and bosses are obviously not students of history, and don't seem to comprehend that we're going to catch them. Regardless of how many times they fill the void we create in their ranks, our FBI Organized Crime Task Force, and our law enforcement partners, are positioned to take them out again, and again.' 

According to the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators committed and are charged with a wide array of crimes – including extortion, loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking – on behalf of the Colombo organized crime family.

The document asserts that Russo, Castellazzo, and DiMatteo, as well captains Persico, Ferrara and Vincent Ricciardo, initiated direct threats of bodily harm, to control the management of the labor union that they were targeting, and influenced decisions that benefitted the family. 

According to the U.S. attorney's office, Colombo captain Ricciardo and his cousin, associate Domenick Ricciardo, collected a portion of the salary of a senior union official for roughly 20 years, threatening the high-ranking official and his family with violence - and even murder - if he did not comply with the family's demands.

In 2019, the family sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the union's healthcare system directly to the administration of the Colombo crime family. 

The suspects were taken to federal court in Brooklyn Tuesday afternoon and will appear before a judge via videoconference to face the slew of charges against them.   

Unlike the others, Vincent Ricciardo was arrested in North Carolina and will be arraigned in Charlotte, also Tuesday afternoon. 

Russo, known as 'Mush,' is a cousin of Carmine Persico, and first rose to prominence in the family when he was promoted to acting underboss in 1973. Carmine Persico, nicknamed the Snake, died in 2019.

Russo was sentenced to 14 years in state prison in November 1986, until his release in July 1994, under special parole conditions. 

He first ruled as street boss from 1996 to 1999, bringing the then-warring Colombos back from the brink after a devastating civil war, but was arrested again in 1996 by the FBI, who slapped him with racketeering charges, claiming he illegally controlled and oversaw Long Island's garbage hauling industry. 

In August 1999, Russo was convicted of jury tampering and sentenced to 57 months in prison, compounded by 123 months for both parole violation and his involvement in the racketeering case. 

After his release in 2010 at 76 years old, Russo again took over the family as street boss after his parole expired, succeeding the incarcerated Ralph DeLeo, while Persico's son, Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, served as acting boss. 

In 2011, he was arrested again on racketeering charges, garnering a 33 month sentence. He resumed his role as street boss on his release in 2013. 

The Colombo family is one of five major mafia organizations in the northeastern United States. The others are the Genovese, Lucchese, Gambino and Bonanno families.

The latest indictments leave it unclear who remains to take control of the Colombo syndicate on the street. 

The entire administration of the Colombo crime family, including Russo and Castellazzo, already pleaded guilty to a variety of mobster activities in 2012. 

The New York mafia has been weakened by several blows in recent years, including arrests, fratricidal struggles and competition from other criminal organizations, but they are still considered active.

The reputed boss of the Gambino clan, Frank Cali, was shot and killed outside his home in the New York borough of Staten Island in March 2019.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9990007/Colombo-crime-boss-arrested-feds-one-famed-five-families-fraud-corruption-raid.html

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Former mafia captain describes the Halloween night 45 years ago he took a blood oath and became a made man in the Colombo family

Former mafia captain describes the Halloween night 45 years ago he took a blood oath and became a made man in the Colombo family

  October 30, 2020    Dapper_Don

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