STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — During a 2023 sentencing hearing, reputed Colombo crime family boss Theodore Persico Jr. told a federal judge that he planned on disassociating with La Cosa Nostra upon his release from prison.
His actions since that court appearance have suggested otherwise, according to federal prosecutors.
Persico Jr., 62, of Todt Hill, pleaded guilty last month before Judge Hector Gonzalez to violating his parole. Gonzalez adjourned the proceedings to Feb. 11 for sentencing.
If the court sticks to federal guidelines, Persico Jr. is looking at five to 11 months, though he faces a maximum of two years behind bars.
The defendant — who goes by the nicknames “Teddy Boy” and “Skinny Teddy” — was handed down a five-year prison sentence in 2023 for his role in a labor union extortion plot carried out by top leadership within the Colombo crime family.
Last summer, the defendant was granted supervised release on the condition he avoid all contact with members of organized crime.
Meet-ups at hospital, restaurant caught on camera: Feds
The defendant’s first alleged parole violation came on Aug. 29 in a parking lot outside NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn. Court documents allege he was captured on surveillance cameras interacting with a friend who was tied to a previous case.
Persico Jr., while admitting it was a bad judgment call, told the judge at his Jan. 22 appearance that his wife was getting surgery at the hospital, and the friend had showed up to support him.
He said he assumed that particular friend would not have been on the list of prohibited individuals. But he said that looking back, he should have checked first, according to the Daily News.
Months later, on Dec. 1, Persico Jr. had a brief exchange with three Colombo members inside Ponte Vecchio restaurant in Bay Ridge, according to court documents.
According to federal prosecutors, surveillance cameras inside Ponte Vecchio restaurant in Bay Ridge captured a Dec. 1 interaction between the defendant and reputed members of the Colombo crime family.(Google Maps)
In that instance, Persico Jr. claimed, he was at dinner with his cousin when he saw two men he’d known for years. He said he wished them a Merry Christmas, the Daily News reported.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Lash argued both meet-ups were intentional, under the guise of the defendant’s daily life. They cited the surveillance images showing associates’ “deference” toward the defendant in meeting with him, suggesting his top ranking in the family.
In surveillance footage from inside the Brooklyn restaurant, he was seen hugging and kissing the Colombo members in an area where they apparently thought they were not being recorded, federal prosecutors argued.
Federal probe targeted mob leadership
In 2023, several reputed mobsters and mob associates from across the New York City area — including top leadership in the Colombo family — were convicted on a range of federal charges including extortion, loan sharking, and in the case of one defendant, drug trafficking.
Persico Jr. was among those named in court documents, along with Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo, who was identified at the time as the Colombo underboss.
Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo was named as the underboss of the Colombo crime family during a 2021 case alleging an extortion plot and other crimes carried out by members of the criminal organization.
The investigation centered around a labor union extortion plot involving defendants from Staten Island, Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey.
Union members threatened: Feds
Beginning in 2001, the Colombos began shaking down members of a union representing construction workers in the tri-state area.
After siphoning off thousands from members’ salaries and benefit funds for years, the crime syndicate was aiming to turn the union into a complete mob-run operation, in which all contracts would be awarded to entities associated with the crime family, the government alleged.
At one point, a Colombo member who went by “Vinny Unions” allegedly threatened he would shoot a union leader in front of the man’s family if they didn’t comply with their demands, according to the Daily News.
“The investigation revealed that the collection of salary payments from labor union personnel was only one facet of a broader plan to take total control of the labor union and more lucrative health fund,” according to an indictment at the time.
Letters on behalf of reputed mob boss
At the time of his 2023 sentencing, the court noted several letters in support of Persico Jr. sent in by family, friends and Staten Island business owners.
His attorney told the court that despite his client’s mob lineage and criminal record dating back to his teen years on Staten Island, he planned on moving to New Jersey away from the lifestyle.
“Each defendant is a double-sided coin,” said high-profile defense attorney Joseph Corozzo. “There could be a very good part and a very bad part to every individual. And you’ve seen how he’s helped others in the (Metropolitan Detention Center) over the past two and a half years.”
Corozzo noted a successful business his client had started with his fiancee, and how employees of the business were in the courtroom that day supporting the defendant.
Persico Jr. is the nephew of notorious Colombo boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico Jr. At the time of the former’s sentencing in the 2023 case, he was identified in court documents as a captain in the family and heir to the throne.
Mob royalty who called S.I. home
Francesco “Franky Boy” Cali, left, was shot and killed outside his Todt Hill home in 2019 by Staten Island resident Anthony Comello, for reasons that remain unclear. Comello took a plea in a secret hearing and is being detained at an undisclosed location in the U.S.
Persico Jr. is not the only mob boss to have resided in the Todt Hill/Dongan Hills area — Mid-Island neighborhoods known for their lavish homes, narrow, winding roads and impeccable skyline views.
In 2019, Gambino boss Frank “Franky Boy” Cali was shot and killed outside his upscale Dongan Hills home. His killer, a Staten Island man, was not a known associate of La Cosa Nostra. The motive for the shooting remains unclear.
Dongan Hills also was the home to former Gambino boss Paul Castellano.