Gang Land 16 Sep 2021

[chin_gigante]

New Colombo Woes: Feds Bust Carmine Persico's Heirs Apparent

As they have done for decades, the feds again put the screws this week to the best laid plans of the late Mafia boss Carmine (Junior) Persico. In a sweeping move against Persico's gangster heirs, the feds arrested and jailed the family's current boss, along with the heir apparent to the Colombo crime family throne and four other top mobsters. All were charged with being part of a 20-year-long racketeering conspiracy.

Using "thousands of hours" of tape recorded talks amassed during a two-year long investigation, federal prosecutors also snared four other Colombos, including the family's consigliere, on a slew of racketeering charges that include extortion, labor racketeering, drug trafficking, gambling, loansharking, fraud and money laundering.

The new "official boss," Andrew (Mush) Russo, 87, the cousin who served as acting boss a few times during the 34 years Persico spent behind bars, underboss Benjamin (The Claw) Castellazzo, 83, and three captains were all jailed without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center. One of the detained captains is Theodore (Skinny Teddy) Persico, 58, whose ascension to the top spot is now on hold.

Also housed at the MDC awaiting trial on racketeering charges carrying up to 20 years in prison are capo Richard Ferrara, 59, soldier Michael Uvino, 56, and longtime associates Domenick Ricciardo, 56, and Thomas Costa, 52, whose expected induction into the crime family this fall has certainly been scotched.

Capo Vincent (Vinny Unions) Ricciardo, 75, who is the centerpiece of the main charge in the case — that the crime family extorted an official of a Flushing, Queens-based construction workers union, Local 621 of the United Construction Trades and Industrial Employees Union for 20 years — was arrested and detained in Charlotte, N.C., where he has a home.

At his arraignment in Charlotte, Ricciardo agreed to be transported back to New York where he will join his codefendants in the MDC any day now. Gang Land takes a closer look below at Vinny Unions, who survived a 1992 rubout attempt and served more than three years in prison for labor racketeering involving Local 14 of the Operating Engineers, another Queens union, in a 2003 Brooklyn Federal Court case.

One Colombo big made a lucky escape from the feds' dragnet. Consigliere Ralph DiMatteo left his Merrick, LI home for a scheduled trip to the Florida, a day before teams of FBI agents and NYPD detectives were dispatched to arrest a total of 14 defendants in the case. Following early reports from several sources that he would be turning himself in, DiMatteo, 66, remained a fugitive yesterday.

Bonanno soldier John (Bazoo) Ragano, 59, who was charged with loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking in the 19-count indictment, was also ordered detained as a danger to the community by U.S. Magistrate Judge Taryn Merkl during Tuesday's arraignments and detention hearings.

Reputed Colombo associate Vincent Martino, 43, and three other defendants charged with lesser, non-violent crimes were released on $100,000 bonds for a follow up status conference in October.

In winning detention for Ragano and the eight Colombo family defendants, prosecutors James McDonald and Devon Lash cited numerous taped conversations in which the mob defendants boasted of their willingness to use violence to get their ways.

In "one consensually recorded conversation," the prosecutors wrote, "Russo commented, 'I don't hesitate, I've never hesitated' to hurt an individual if the individual stepped out of line."

And they noted that while the aging Russo, who was in a car accident three weeks ago, and had to be checked out at a local hospital before he was found to be healthy enough to be detained at the MDC, isn't up to committing any violent acts himself, he has numerous underlings who are clearly "capable."

In a taped talk on November 25, 2020, Costa, an associate who was one of several proposed mobsters discussed on the government tapes, stated that if he had to convince a reluctant victim to come around, he would "put my black sweat suit on and my fucking face mask and crawl in his house and help him think about it. When he wakes up, I'll be lying in bed with him."

Russo also has several very willing and able veteran wiseguys, Uvino and Vinny Unions, that he can call on, the prosecutors wrote, citing two taped talks by Ricciardo that the government picked up in June.

"I'm trying to be nice to everybody, but let me tell you something, you definitely don't want to see the other side of me, and that's the same with Michael," he said, referring to Uvino. "You never wanna see the other side of Michael," he continued. "We joke around, we do this, we do that, we say this, let me tell you something, it's nothing to fuck with, I learned the hard way, and you think I'm going to let somebody dictate to me? No, not after I did the right thing all my life."

A week later, when Ricciardo was discussing the hefty salary their alleged union official victim was earning, they wrote that the wiseguy "further illustrated Uvino's violent nature, stating, 'If I ever showed this to Michael? He'd go right to his house and punch him in the fucking face, and not give a fuck, and not say a word.'"

In 2001, wrote prosecutors McDonald and Lash, Vinny Unions, along with his cousin Domenick began receiving a "portion of the salary of a senior official" of Local 621 "through the actual and threatened use of force, violence and fear" in an extortion scheme that was joined in 2019 by the Administration of the crime family and capos Persico, Ferrara and mobster Uvino.

As part of the scheme, the prosecutors wrote, Russo and his underlings tried to "divert more than $10,000 per month" from Local 621's health and welfare funds into the crime family's coffers through a money laundering scheme involving the "theft and embezzlement of the health fund's assets."

Local 621, which is not identified in the indictment or the detention memo, and has represented workers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the years, has 1179 members, according to last year's report the union filed with the Department of Labor. The union's two top officers, whose combined income last year was $380,000, declined to comment about the case.

While the prosecutors assert that their tape-recorded conversations "unequivocally make clear that the Colombo crime family is thriving and continues to engage in various crimes" and that its members boast of their willingness to resort to violence, the court filings say otherwise. They indicate that once family leaders got involved in the Ricciardo-led union extortion scheme, it went nowhere, and things got worse.

After Vinny Unions went to prison for labor racketeering in 2005, the prosecutors wrote, "his cousin Domenick Ricciardo began collecting the payments on Vincent Ricciardo's behalf." Sources say Vinny Unions picked up right where he left off when he was release in 2008.

But try as they might, Russo and his underlings not only failed to increase their extortion payments to $10,000 a month, they lost whatever they had been getting and got indicted on racketeering charges that could cost them more than a few years behind bars.

"We haven't gotten any discovery yet," said one defense lawyer, "but from where I'm sitting it looks like a pretty dry conspiracy. They talked tough, and they tried to get money from here and there, and promised each other they would, but I don't think they made even one thin dime in the money laundering scheme."

On the record comments were tough to get, but lawyer Joseph Corozzo, didn't disappoint.

Corozzo had argued in vain at the late night bail hearing for Teddy Persico that while prosecutors included some evidence in the 100 pages of court filings that his client may have violated his supervised release and "lied to probation," they had presented "no evidence" linking his client to any crimes that warranted detention in the MDC.

The lawyer noted that prosecutors had submitted no photos or proffers that Persico was at either of two meetings where discussions about the alleged union scheme took place. He also stated that the prosecution argument that "pings" from Persico's cell phone showed that he drove into Brooklyn in time to have attended the meeting and had left the borough after the meeting ended, was "specious" because he could have been anywhere in Brooklyn.

Corozzo also noted when prosecutors wrote in their detention memo that a remark by one defendant indicated that "Persico would be very supportive of Uvino and others" in the union scam meant that Teddy hadn't done so yet and hadn't implicated himself in any crimes.

In denying bail, Judge Merkl noted that Persico, who was released from prison last year, was prevented from associating with any ex-cons for three years.

"Even from the government's allegations," the attorney told Gang Land, "my client's alleged involvement in criminal activity is merely speculative. I am confident that a jury will not convict my client on actions that might take place in the future. I feel I established (at the bail hearing) that my client was not involved in any charged criminal activity. We are preparing for trial."

Judge Overrules Feds; Lets Wiseguy Attend Son's Funeral

In a flint-hearted move last Spring, federal prosecutors tried to block a judge from letting a jailed wiseguy attend his son's funeral — even though the inmate had been designated for release to a halfway house two days before his son died, Gang Land has learned.

Due to prison Covid-19 protocols, Genovese mobster Ernest (Butch) Montevecchi was still behind bars at the time, waiting to be shifted to the half way house. But that cut no ice with the feds who callously insisted that the mobster's family tragedy was no reason to show him any compassion.

Over prosecutors' objections, however, Manhattan Federal court Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered Montevechhi released, in time to attend the funeral of his son Brian who had died suddenly on April 29. Montevecchi's family had held up the service for several days hoping that Hellerstein, who had denied two motions for the compassionate release of the 76-year-old mobster, would "do the right thing," according to court filings in the case.

Hellerstein did just that. He ordered the Bureau of Prisons to release Montevecchi, whose official release date was last month, but who had been assigned to move to a halfway house on April 27. Before his release, however, the gangster was ordered to quarantine at the prison compound in Fort Dix until June 2 because Butch received his second COVID-19 vaccination shot several weeks earlier.

Having already lost two motions for compassion, Butch settled in to do the five weeks of quarantine. But two days later, on April 29, his lawyer informed Hellerstein that Brian had "passed away suddenly" earlier that day and asked the judge to reduce his client's sentence to "time served" so he "could attend his son's funeral and comfort his wife."

In the filing, defense attorney Thomas Harvey argued that since Montevecchi, who tested positive for COVID-19 in November, had received his second vaccine shot and was now fully immunized, it would be "punitive" for him to be unable "to attend his son's funeral and help comfort his wife" since he was not a danger to infect anyone with the disease.

But five days later, prosecutors Jason Swergold, Gina Castellano and Jacob Fiddelman argued against any release for Montevecchi, who received a 30-month sentence for a shakedown of a contractor. Even in their own papers, the prosecutors confirmed that Butch would have been released to a halfway house two days before his son died, if he hadn't received his second COVID vaccine shot on April 7.

Here's how they put it:

"The government is sympathetic to the defendant's horrible family circumstance, and in no way intends to minimize it," the prosecutors wrote, "as no one should ever have to experience the loss of a child." But "this tragic event simply is not the type of extraordinary and compelling reason that justifies" an early release from prison, they argued.

Prosecutors declined to discuss the case. Contacted by Gang Land, attorney Harvey said he "was surprised they would oppose such an application, since without the COVID-19 protocol Mr. Montevecchi would have been released two days before his son died."

In a brief reply to the government filing that same day, the lawyer wrote that while prosecutors had conceded that "but for" his client's "quarantine-related delay" he "would have been able to attend his son's wake and funeral," President Eisenhower had once stated "there is no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were."

In a third court filing that day, May 4, Judge Hellerstein ordered Harvey to submit proof of Montevecchi's COVID vaccine shots and "presence of COVID antibodies from his prior illness" by noon on May 5, and any government objections to the defense filing by 4PM that same day.

On May 7, Hellerstein noted that the government had stated that the death of Montevecchi's child was a "horrible family circumstance" and a "tragic event," and ruled that was an "extraordinary and compelling" reason to reduce the defendant's sentence to "time served," especially since "Montevecchi has served just about all his original sentence."

Hellerstein wrote that the "grounds for compassion are especially compelling" because his son's death occurred "only a few months before the end" of Montevecchi's prison term and "two days after" his scheduled release "to a half-way house but for the Bureau of Prisons' mandatory quarantine requirements."

The judge ordered the government to release Montevecchi by 2 PM the following day. That enabled the aging wiseguy to attend the funeral and graveyard ceremony of his son Brian, whose funeral and burial took place on May 8.

In Court, Vinny Unions Shows His Two Sides

He had his first heart attack when he was 38 years old. Nine years later he survived an assassination attempt by mob associate Vito Guzzo. And by the time Colombo capo Vincent (Vinny Unions) Ricciardo went to prison for labor racketeering nearly two decades ago at the age of 60, he had survived four more heart attacks.

There's little doubt the violent 75-year-old mobster, who had several additional heart attack scares while behind bars for extortion charges involving Local 14 of the Operating Engineers union, figures he's living on borrowed time.

Back in June, wrote prosecutors James McDonald and Devon Lash, Ricciardo exploded in anger, threatening to kill another local union official he'd been shaking down for 20 years "right in front of his fucking house." Vinny Unions at the time vowed that he wasn't "afraid to go to jail" and "would fucking shoot him right in front of his wife and kids," adding "how long you think I'm gonna last anyway?"

But you never would have believed that Ricciardo had a nasty bone in his body, if you were in Brooklyn Federal Court when he faced the music for the Local 14 extortion before Judge Sterling Johnson.

Ricciardo talked about how he had left school "in the sixth grade, at the age of twelve, to go to work" as a butcher. He worked at the trade for close to 20 years, he told the judge in his sentencing memo, until he " became involved in the trade union movement," as he put it. This was an effort, he said, to "try to help myself and others like me get better wages and safer working conditions," he stated.

After losing "two fingers on my left hand in a work related accident" he "became more involved in the union itself," Ricciardo continued, becoming first "an organizer and business representative of the" butchers union and then held "various union positions" including vice president of Local Two of the Laundry and Dry Cleaning International Union."

"I was also affiliated with the carpenters union," he said, telling Johnson that he "was proud of the many years I spent helping working people better their lives."

"I do not claim to be an altar boy, but I am not the devil the government would make me out to be," Ricciardo stated, adding that he was "very sorry" about his illegal conduct and hopeful that the judge would "take the good things I have done in this life into account" and impose a non-custodial sentence.

When it was time for Johnson to say his piece, he seemed to pay more attention to the retort by then prosecutor Joseph Lipton who wrote that while Vinny Unions claimed he was "just helping people he knew get union jobs" he had "used force and intimidation to secure no-show jobs for associates of the Colombo family, in return for monetary kickbacks from union representatives."

And the judge had no idea then that Ricciardo's cousin Domenick was already collecting shakedown payoffs from another union official, as prosecutors detailed Tuesday.

The Judge sentenced him to the high end of his sentencing guidelines, 42 months, recommended that the Bureau of Prisons assign him to the prison hospital in Ayer Massachusetts, and ordered Ricciardo to spend three years of post-prison supervised release.

No matter how his current case shakes out, Vinny Unions knows he's ahead of the game.

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[eboli]

... once family leaders got involved in the Ricciardo-led union extortion scheme, it went nowhere, and things got worse.

You can sum up the last 50 years of Colombo family history with this excerpt. Thanks for posting, chin.

[Chopper]

Thanks for posting Chin, good week for Capeci

[TSNYC]

So the allegations are that they were extorting a union rep for part of his salary, and they were trying to get $10,000/month out of the union’s benefits fund? This seems like pretty small potatoes. For this many high level people to get involved in it seems a bit odd too. Wonder if maybe there’s more to the case and a second indictment comes down.

[TommyNoto]

I agree , I don’t think this case ends up with a lot of time and is small potatoes

There was talk of violence but no actual violence

It looks like this union guy fell behind on payments and they tried to squeeze him .

What the Columbos did with trying to steer contracts for a cut is how most business operate.

[Amershire_Ed]

It’s kinda similar to the recent Philly bust in that the most damning thing in the indictment is boasting about potential criminal activity—and not the actual criminal activity itself.

In Philly it was Dom Grande bragging about how many 30s he could move and Mazzone talking about taking back AC. In this case, it seems like guys are talking tough about potential violence, but for an extortion scheme that seems to have lasted for 20 years, there appears to be basically zero violence.

[Etna]

It’s kinda similar to the recent Philly bust in that the most damning thing in the indictment is boasting about potential criminal activity—and not the actual criminal activity itself.

In Philly it was Dom Grande bragging about how many 30s he could move and Mazzone talking about taking back AC. In this case, it seems like guys are talking tough about potential violence, but for an extortion scheme that seems to have lasted for 20 years, there appears to be basically zero violence.

My thoughts exactly. The threats though are enough for extortion, but aside from that, I think this may be a very weak case for some of them.

[Southshore88]

Thanks for posting!

[Tonyd621]

Where's Ralph DiMattep?

[JohnnyS]

Thanks for posting.

[Tonyd621]

Thanks for posting.

Angelo DiMatteo (Ralph's son) posted a pic of his dad on Twitter "taunting the feds.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny ... story.html

[TommyNoto]

It’s kinda similar to the recent Philly bust in that the most damning thing in the indictment is boasting about potential criminal activity—and not the actual criminal activity itself.

In Philly it was Dom Grande bragging about how many 30s he could move and Mazzone talking about taking back AC. In this case, it seems like guys are talking tough about potential violence, but for an extortion scheme that seems to have lasted for 20 years, there appears to be basically zero violence.

My thoughts exactly. The threats though are enough for extortion, but aside from that, I think this may be a very weak case for some of them.

Everything is legal today , gambling , weed, high interest loans combined with no violence & most activities done behind legit biz must make it hard to be an OC Agent today.