1. Carmine Persico had been serving 32 years in federal prison from 1987 until his death on March 7,2019.
48 Facts About Carmine Persico
1. 2.
Carmine Persico was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Carmine John Persico Sr.
3.
Carmine Persico's father was a legal stenographer for several law firms in Manhattan.
4.
Carmine Persico's son, named Alphonse after the boy's uncle and commonly known as "Little Allie Boy", eventually became a capo as well.
5.
In March 1951,17-year-old Persico was arrested on charges of fatally beating another youth in Brooklyn's Prospect Park.
6.
At first Carmine Persico did bookmaking and loan-sharking, then moved into burglaries and hijackings.
7.
Carmine Persico started working with Joe Gallo and his brothers, Albert Gallo and Larry Gallo.
8.
In 1957, Carmine Persico allegedly participated in the murder of Albert Anastasia, the former leader of Murder, Inc and the boss of what was then the Anastasia family.
9.
Carmine Persico was indicted later that year for the attempted murder of Gallo, but the charges were dropped when Gallo refused to testify.
10.
In early 1963, Carmine Persico survived a car bombing and his enforcer Hugh McIntosh was shot in the groin as he attempted to kill Larry Gallo.
11.
Carmine Persico was replaced by Colombo, who had alerted the Commission to Magliocco's plot.
12.
In turn, Colombo rewarded the imprisoned Carmine Persico by naming him a capo.
13.
Carmine Persico was involved in labor racketeering, extortion, loan-sharking, hijacking, illegal gambling, and especially murder for hire.
14.
In 1968, Carmine Persico was convicted on federal hijacking charges after five separate trials dating back to 1960.
15.
On November 11,1971, Carmine Persico went on trial in state court on 37 counts of extortion, usury, coercion, and conspiracy, all stemming from a loan-sharking operation out of a Manhattan fur shop.
16.
In 1973, Carmine Persico was imprisoned on hijacking and loan-sharking charges, and sentenced to eight years in prison.
17.
Carmine Persico's incarceration coincided with the release of his brother Alphonse from 17 years in prison.
18.
The evidence included a recording of Carmine Persico offering the agent $250,000 in exchange for getting him an early release from prison.
19.
On November 9,1981, Carmine Persico was sentenced to five years in federal prison.
20.
Carmine Persico hid in the home of his brother-in-law and minor mob associate Fred DeChristopher, in Hempstead, New York.
21.
Unbeknownst to Carmine Persico, DeChristopher had been relaying information to the FBI for the previous two years after being caught up in a sting operation, and had already told the Bureau of Carmine Persico's whereabouts.
22.
Carmine Persico was arrested on February 15,1985 at the home of DeChristopher.
23.
An FBI agent actually called the residence and spoke with Carmine Persico, telling him the house was surrounded.
24.
At the start of the commission trial Carmine Persico decided to serve as his own lawyer.
25.
Carmine Persico believed that his history of convictions gave him sufficient experience to defend himself.
26.
Carmine Persico received counsel from lawyers to help guide him when the prosecutors questioned him.
27.
Carmine Persico tried to project a friendly image to the jury and urged them to put aside any preconceptions about "the Mafia" or "Cosa Nostra".
28.
Many believe that Carmine Persico inadvertently sabotaged his own defense by acknowledging criminal activities during his cross-examinations of prosecution witnesses.
29.
On June 14,1986, Carmine Persico was convicted of racketeering in the Colombo Trial.
30.
Carmine Persico was sent to United States Penitentiary near Marion, Illinois, to serve his combined 139-year sentence.
31.
In June 1987, Carmine Persico ordered acting boss Joel Cacace to kill lawyer William Aronwald, a retired prosecutor who had allegedly been disrespectful to the Mafia.
32.
Carmine Persico realized that he would likely die in prison, and would thus never be able to resume active control of the family.
33.
Carmine Persico was determined to ensure that his cut of the Colombo rackets continued to flow to his relatives.
34.
Carmine Persico then named a three-man ruling panel to run the family.
35.
Indeed, Carmine Persico picked Orena in part because he was the capo of Little Allie Boy's old crew.
36.
Carmine Persico socialized with people such as Patriarca family consigliere Joseph Russo and Lucchese family associate Anthony Senter.
37.
Carmine Persico formed the "Lompoc Four", a band in which Russo played guitar and Carmine Persico played drums.
38.
Carmine Persico grew to resent that he would have to turn over the family to Little Allie Boy.
39.
John Gotti encouraged Orena's rebellion, since he and Carmine Persico had long been enemies, and went so far as to label Carmine Persico a "rat", the worst possible accusation for a Cosa Nostra figure.
40.
Carmine Persico requested that consigliere Carmine Sessa quietly poll all the Colombo capos as to whom they wanted as boss.
41.
Since Little Allie Boy was facing prosecution on new charges, Carmine Persico installed a ruling committee comprising his brother, Theodore, mobster Joseph Baudanza and Joseph Tomasello.
42.
In 1994, when Andrew Russo was released from prison, Carmine Persico disbanded the committee and designated Russo as acting boss.
43.
In 1996, Russo went to prison and Carmine Persico replaced him with his son, Little Allie Boy, who by now had been released from prison.
44.
In early 1999, with Alphonse in legal trouble, Carmine Persico made Cacace the acting boss.
45.
On December 20,2001, Alphonse Carmine Persico pleaded guilty to the loan-sharking charges, accepted a 13-year prison sentence and agreed to forfeit $1 million.
46.
In 2011, Carmine Persico was still the official boss of the Colombo crime family.
47.
The New York Post further reported that Carmine Persico loved to play pinochle and bocce with other mobsters and regale them with stories from his past.
48.
On March 7,2019, Carmine Persico died at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.