He was granted supervised release last summer on the condition he avoid all contact with members of organized crime.<\/p>\n
Meet-ups at hospital, restaurant caught on camera: Feds![\"Feds](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770827049_364_CKN6VWEH6VBVZMHTREM24USQKM.png\")
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)<\/p>\n
The defendant\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/a><\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n In that instance, Persico Jr. claimed, he was at dinner with his cousin when he saw two men he\u2019d known for years. He said he wished them a Merry Christmas, the Daily News reported.<\/p>\n Assistant U.S. Attorney Devon Lash argued both meet-ups were intentional, under the guise of the defendant\u2019s daily life. Prosecutors cited the surveillance images showing associates\u2019 \u201cdeference\u201d toward the defendant in meeting with him, alleging his top ranking in the family.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Federal probe targeted mob leadership In 2023, several reputed mobsters and mob associates from across the New York City area \u2014 including top leadership in the Colombo family \u2014 were convicted on a range of federal charges including extortion, loan sharking, and in the case of one defendant, drug trafficking.<\/p>\n Persico Jr. was among those named in court documents, along with Benjamin \u201cThe Claw\u201d Castellazzo, who was identified at the time as the Colombo underboss.<\/p>\n The investigation centered around a labor union extortion plot involving defendants from Staten Island, Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn and New Jersey.<\/p>\n Union members threatened: Feds<\/p>\n Beginning in 2001, the Colombos began shaking down members of a union representing construction workers in the tri-state area.<\/p>\n After siphoning off thousands from members\u2019 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d according to an indictment at the time.<\/p>\n Letters on behalf of reputed mob boss<\/p>\n At the time of his 2023 sentencing, the court noted several letters in support of Persico Jr. sent in<\/a> by family, friends and Staten Island business owners.<\/p>\n![\"Benjamin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770827049_0_CZPOIDSRAZCNFOXORV3PCSUAPA.png\")
Benjamin “The Claw” Castellazzo has been charged by federal authorities in New York as the underboss of the Colombo crime family.<\/p>\n