The infamous Colombo crime family’s boss-in-waiting pleaded guilty to labor racketeering on Wednesday, a move that could lead the Mafia clan without a leader.
Theodore ‘Skinny Teddy’ Persico, 59, struck a deal with Brooklyn federal prosecutors in which they agreed not to seek a prison sentence longer than 71 months – just shy of six years. He’d been facing a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Persico became one of six purported Colombo mobsters who accepted pleas in the massive case that devastated the clan’s leadership in 2021.
The indictment targeted the entirety of the crime organization’s ‘administration.’ The Colombos are currently believed to be the weakest of the city’s legendary ‘Five Families’ in terms of membership.
Theodore ‘Skinny Teddy’ Persico, 59, struck a deal with Brooklyn prosecutors, meaning he will likely not be available to lead the Colombo crime family as he’d been ordained to do
The late Carmine ‘The Snake’ Persico was Teddy’s uncle. He died in prison several years ago, where he was serving a life sentence. His son, Alphonse ‘Little Allie Boy’ Persico, is also serving a life sentence and therefore unavailable to lead the family
Vincent Ricciardo, 77, a captain in the family, is the sole defendant who has not yet struck a deal. He is scheduled to plead on Friday.
Persico – the nephew of the late Colombo godfather Carmine ‘the Snake’ Persico – is accused of conspiring with now-deceased Colombo boss Andrew ‘Mush’ Russo to shake down a Queens-based union and launder the funds, in a ploy that ran for 20 years.
Carmine Persico’s son, Alphonse ‘Little Allie Boy’ Persico, is currently serving a life sentence in prison for murder – leaving Teddy Persico as one of a dwindling number of personnel options to lead the family.
With Teddy likely headed to prison, along with most living top family officers, it is unclear who will lead the ailing family.
Like many of his colleagues, Teddy Persico possesses a lengthy rap sheet that dates back to his teenage years when he was convicted of attempted grand larceny on Staten Island.
He eventually spent more than 15 years in state prison for dealing drugs.
His most recent prison stint ended in May of 2020. He had been convicted for ordering the 1993 hit against Joseph Scopo, which took place during an internal power struggle inside the Colombo family.
Persico delivered the order to ‘kill Joey’ while he was briefly out of prison to attend his grandmother’s funeral. Testimony in the 2012 trial indicated that he gave the order while sitting in a room with his grandmother’s body and three state jail guards, who had escorted him from an upstate prison.
According to prosecutors, Theodore Persico was a ‘high-ranking captain’ of the Colombo family and the first inline to succeed Russo, who died aged 87 last year while awaiting trial.
Witness testimony, say prosecutors, will prove that Persico participated in a ‘high-level meeting of the crime family in November 2020’ to determine a path forward for the organization.
During that meeting, Russo was decided upon as the ‘family’s boss,’ and Persico ‘would become the boss upon completion of his supervised release.’
With the former Don dead and many of his top lieutenants almost certainly going to prison, it is unclear who will lead the ailing crime family
It was allegedly decided at a 2021 meeting of the family that Teddy Persico would take over as the next head of the family
Persico wound up behind bars again because of the labor racketeering case, and so may not have been available in May, when his supervised release was set to end.
Prior to Russo’s death last year, Benjamin ‘The Claw’ Castellazzo, who is in his eighties, served as the family’s underboss, and Ralph DiMatteo acted as consigliere. Castellazo was also scheduled to be in court last week to plead guilty.
DiMatteo, 68, was in court last week, where he admitted to extortion, conspiracy and money laundering from 2020 to 2021.
The then-third in command was famously pictured lounging in a Florida pool while on the lam in 2021, one day after he was supposed to turn himself in.
In his appearance last week, DiMatteo referred to the mob family exclusively as ‘the enterprise.’
Presiding Judge Hector Gonzalez said the sentencing guidelines for DiMatteo range between 41 and 51 months in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October 5.
The Colombo family is one of five major mafia organizations in the northeastern United States. The others including the Genovese family, Lucchese family, Gambino family and Bonanno family.
