For many months, the feds wrongly believed he had taken over the reins of the Colombo crime family from his late uncle. But they apparently had it right that Theodore (Skinny Teddy)Persico and the hierarchy of the beleaguered bourghata were guilty of racketeering and the extortion of a Queens-based construction workers union, Mob Insider has learned.
Persico, a family capo, along with the family’s accused underboss and consigliere, and two other mobsters, have agreed to cop guilty pleas to satisfy all charges stemming from the crime family’s 20-year-long shakedown of Local 621 of the United Construction Trades & Industrial Employees Union, according to court filings in the case.
Sources say that Skinny Teddy, 59, and the accused wiseguys — with the lone exception of 85-year-old accused underboss Benjamin (The Claw) Castellazzo — have agreed to accept plea deals calling for between four and six years in prison, depending on their individual “criminal history” scores that are based on the number of convictions they’ve had over the years.
The sentencing guidelines in Castellazzo’s plea agreement, the sources say, are 21-to-27 months. Brooklyn Federal Judge Hector Gonzalez will have the final say on the prison term that The Claw, and the other defendants receive, of course. The sources say lawyers for all the remaining wiseguys, who include capo Vincent (Vinny Unions) Ricciardo and mobster Michael Uvino, will be permitted to seek sentences below the recommended guidelines for their clients.
Ralph (Big Ralph) DeMatteo, the crime family’s beefy consigliere who was seen lounging in a pool in sunny Florida in a photo that was posted by his son when the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the blockbuster indictment of then-boss Andrew (Mush) Russo and the family hierarchy in September of 2021, was scheduled to plead guilty on Friday (July 7).
DeMatteo, 68, who was a fugitive for a few days before he made his way back to Brooklyn, was snared in numerous meetings and conversations with Russo and other mobsters about the long-running extortion as well as the family’s plan to steal $10,000 a month from the union’s benefit funds, according to court filings in the case.
Teddy Persico, who was mistakenly accused of having succeeded his uncle, Carmine (Junior) Persico as boss of the crime family in FBI affidavits that prosecutors used to obtain search warrants and wiretaps during the investigation in 2020 and 2021, is scheduled to plead guilty later this week.
The sources say that Persico’s plea agreement includes charges of violating his supervised release restrictions by meeting numerous wiseguys following his release from prison in 2020. His attorney declined to discuss the issue, stating he would deal with that at his client’s scheduled appearance before Judge Gonzalez this week.
Sources say that three defendants charged with being part of the family’s plan to embezzle $10,000 a month from Local 621’s benefit plans — financial whiz Albert Alimena, a longtime Genovese family associate, as well as Ricciardo’s girlfriend, Erin Thompkins, and union pension consultant Joseph Bellantoni — have agreed to a separate “global” plea deal with sentencing guidelines of four-to-10 months.
Upstate New York Mob Insider 