History of The Colombo Crime Family

The Colombo Crime Family was the last of New York’s Five families to be created, all the way back in 1928. Their family tree begins with a Sicilian immigrant named Giuseppe Profaci. They were originally a group that profited mainly from bootlegging. 

The Colombos never quite became the powerhouse family that the Gambinos and Genovese did. Over the years, the Colombos have seen a number of civil wars and renegade members struggling for power. This and a number of high profile defections have brought the family to their knees.

The Family OG: Joe Profaci

Giuseppe “Joe” Profaci was born in Palermo, Sicily on October 2, 1897. Not much is known about his childhood, except that he had his share of trouble with the law. He spent a year in a Sicilian prison on charges of theft. After being released in 1921, he came to the United States and lived in Chicago for a few years before settling in New York. 

It was in New York that Profaci became involved with the mafia. In the 1920’s, no Syndicate or Commission had been set up and the mafia families were more like neighborhood Italian gangs. During this wild time, there was not much in the way of structure. Power in the 1920’s came from who was the meanest and who had the best gunslingers. 

Profaci’s family connections back in Sicily carried a lot of weight. When Salvatore D’Aquila was murdered in 1928, Profaci was given his territory. The other bosses at the time saw Profaci as someone who could manage the wild gangster factions in Brooklyn. Profaci made his brother in law Joseph Magglioco his underboss and 2nd in command.

Profaci and Magglioco had a number of diversified rackets that they made money from. They had the standard loansharking and bookmaking operations. Prostitution was another area where they were bringing in the riches. All prostitution networks in the area paid a heavy weekly tribute to Profaci. They also made money from narcotics trafficking. 

In 1930, when the Castellammarese War broke out, mobsters were being gunned down every day on the streets of New York. The battle was between Joe “The Boss” Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano who were battling for supremacy. Profaci wisely kept a low profile during this time. In the end, both Masseria and Maranzano would be killed. 

The Five Families

When the war ended, the man who took over the mafia and became de facto boss of bosses was Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Lucky decided to formally split the New York mafia into five families. He also created a ruling Commission for resolving disputes. Joe Profaci was named as one of the five bosses and given a seat on the Commission. 

He was very close with another one of the original five bosses, Joe Bonanno. Bonanno and Profaci were a team within the Commission, which often led to them winning disputes because they were usually in the majority. Their families were also close and years later Profaci’s niece Rosalie would marry Bonanno’s son Salvatore. 

One thing that separated Joe Profaci from most other mobsters was that he had a number of legitimate businesses. He was known as the “Olive Oil King” because had an olive oil import company which was thriving. He didn’t have to be involved with the mafia. It was in his blood, something that he decided he had to be a part of. 

Profaci was a mafia boss who knew how to gain the trust of his community. He was known for giving money to locals in need and donating to many charities. These types of actions gave him a good reputation which led to a community that protected him from law enforcement. They saw their community as better because he was in it. 

He gained vast amounts of wealth over the next two decades while dealing with little scrutiny from the authorities. One of his homes was previously owned by former president, Teddy Roosevelt. Profaci also had a very loyal following in the ranks of his own family. The Profaci family was most stable of all the five families during the 1930s and 1940s. 

He was so well liked by the public that the Vatican received an overwhelming number of people who asked that Profaci be knighted. A petition was started which gained thousands of signatures in favor. Profaci was honored and considered this to be one of the defining times of his life. In the end, the Brooklyn D.A.’s office put an end to the idea.

Colombo Family War #1

Profaci offered up two of his soldiers “Crazy Joe” Gallo and Carmine Persico to kill Albert Anastasia in 1957. It was an extremely dangerous job but Gallo and Persico pulled it off flawlessly. The hit earned Profaci much goodwill with the other Commission bosses who wanted Anastasia dead. It also solidified Persico and Gallo’s reputations in the mafia.

 Despite Profaci being busted at the infamous Apalachin Summit in 1957, it was yet another prosperous decade for the Profaci family. The family was still considered the gold standard when it came to longevity. All of the other families had seen drastic and often violent leadership changes. Things were about to change in a drastic way. 

The problems would start in 1959 when high rolling capo “Franki Shots” Abbatemarco began complaining about the amount of tribute he was paying Profaci. Joe Gallo and Persico were in Frankie Shots’ crew. Profaci ordered Gallo to have Franki Shots killed, and by all accounts that is exactly what happened. Abbatemarco was gunned down on November 4, 1959.

The Frankie Shots murder isn’t what set off the war, it apparently happened because of some failed negotiations that took place afterwards. Most insiders claimed that Profaci had offered Gallo control over Abbatemarco’s businesses. But when Persico and Gallo refused to hand over Abbatemarco’s son, Profaci refused to hand over the businesses. 

Crazy Joe Gallo was not someone you would want to be at odds with. He was a stone cold killer and thirsting for power in the mafia. He would kill anybody it took to get what he wanted. Feeling betrayed, he decided to make his move on Profaci. He orchestrated the kidnapping of Profaci’s entire administration, including Magglioco and his brother Frank Profaci. 

The hostages were released when Profaci promised to come through on his original promise, and then Profaci reneged. He then had Gallo crew member Joey Gioielli killed shortly after. He also got Carmine Persico to switch sides and Persico then tried and failed to kill Larry Gallo. This incident is when Carmine earned his famous nickname, “The Snake”. 

Becoming The Colombo Family

Quite a few more lower level guys died because of this feud in the next year. It would quickly die down after Joe Gallo went to prison in 1961 for murder. On June 6, 1962, legendary mafia Joe Profaci died after battling cancer. Longtime underboss Joe Magliocco was now the boss of the family. The Profaci era had come to an end after more than 33 years. 

The early 1960’s would continue in a state of turbulence for the family. The Gallo and Persico factions continued to try to kill each other. Carmine Persico would survive two different attempts on his life in 1963. Persico was shot twice in the second incident, once in the arm and once in the face. Carmine, the ultimate tough guy actually spat out the bullet that went in his face. 

The new boss Magliocco would get himself in big trouble when it was found that he and Joe Bonanno were plotting to kill other Commission members. The person who was supposed to do the killings was family member Joe Colombo. Bonanno instantly disappeared from New York but Joe Magliocco was left to face the other Commission members alone. 

Very surprisingly, they did not decide to kill Magliocco. They did force him to step down and appointed Joe Colombo the new boss of the family. It’s unclear whether Colombo knew he would get the position beforehand, but the move worked out well for him. It would now forever be known as the Colombo Crime Family and Colombo was the first American born mafia boss in history. 

Mostly due to his alerting them of the impending murder plot against them, Colombo developed very strong ties with Carlo Gambino and Tommy “Three Fingers Brown” Lucchese. This helped him to earn the respect of the mobsters in his family, which was an incredibly wily bunch. At the very least, it kept him from being moved in on by any renegade members. 

The family had slipped into an erratic state for the last few years and Colombo knew he had work to do. He would spend the next couple years concentrating on quelling the inner family turmoil. Slowly, all sides in the family began to accept Joe Colombo’s idea of family peace aiding their return to prosperity. A few years would go by without any more family cannibalism. 

The Activist Mafia Boss

Joe Colombo founded the Italian American Civil Rights League in 1969. It was a political movement dedicated to battling discrimination against Italians in America. This move surprised not only the other Commission members, but also the members of his own crime family. Although they may have agreed with his cause, they were rightfully concerned 

Public activism was not something most mobsters considered a good idea, for obvious reasons. The best mobsters always operated “in the dark”, not drawing public attention to themselves. For his new organization to succeed, Colombo would need to ignore that rule and thrust himself into the public eye. It was something he knew about and was willing to do.

Joe Colombo felt it was his duty to fight for the cause and ignored all warnings from his peers and underlings. He was committed to his work, but also very much hypocritical about it too. One of the main goals of the Italian American Civil Rights League was to fight negative stereotypes. Joe Colombo was one of the bosses of New York’s infamous five mafia families. 

As for the other members of the Commision, they were unhappy about the extra press but never decided to kill Colombo as punishment. They simply blackballed the organization and hoped it wouldn’t bring too much negative attention to the mafia. Their hope was that it wouldn’t catch on and that it would eventually just fade away unnoticed. 

Their worst fears of the Commission soon became a reality. Joe Colombo and the league began holding huge rallies and protests which drew huge crowds. In just a few months, the organization gained thousands of members. Frank Sinatra even held a benefit concert to support the group at Madison Square Garden in November 1970. 

Despite the snub from the Commission, Colombo considered his move a success and started to make long term plans for it. He was planning on organizing a huge rally for the summer of 1971 in Columbus Circle in Manhattan. The Commission was dreading this event, but Joe Colombo had other problems too. Renegade family member Crazy Joe Gallo had gotten out of prison. 

The Return Of Crazy Joe

When Crazy Joe got out, he let it be known that any peace agreements were a thing of the past. He wanted to be the boss of the family and was ready to put bullets in anyone who disagreed. Gallo was unpredictable and his return to the streets caused a lot of fear in the New York mafia. After all, this was a man who had the nerve to kill Albert Anastasia and start a civil war in the family years before. 

Joe Gallo was a true enigma. He was a very handsome guy with devilish grin. Many who knew him said he was personable and even charming. Outside of his mafia life, he hung out with actors and various other high society types. One of his best friends was actor Jerry Orbach who starred in The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, which was based on Gallo’s story.

When it came to the mafia however, Gallo was a menacing individual who regularly had three or more people on his hit list at any time. He was also opportunistic and thought that he may have the sympathy of the Commission if he killed Colombo. He was ready to act with or without their approval, but the activism may have put Colombo in a vulnerable spot. 

On June 28, 1971, Colombo held his second huge rally in Columbus Circle. It was a massive demonstration with fifty thousand people in attendance. There were dozens of news crews with cameras capturing the event. For whatever reason, Crazy Joe decided that this day would be the right time. Gallo was well aware of the publicity the hit would create, it would be his Anastasia moment revisited. 

Colombo paid no attention as a man named Jerome Johnson walked toward him disguised as a cameraman. Johnson suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Colombo in the head. Johnson was shot and killed on sight, with cameras catching the aftermath. Police found Johnson to be acting as a lone gunman, but everyone in the mafia knew who was responsible for ordering the hit. 

He didn’t die in the shooting, but Colombo went into a semi coma until he passed away 7 years later in 1978. Most accounts of the shooting don’t point to other Commission members as active participants in the incident. What is more likely is that they probably knew of Gallo’s plan and simply decided to not get involved. They would just deal with the crazy guy later. 

Enter Carmine The Snake Persico

In the days after the shooting, Gallo was now seeing a clear path to the top of the New York mafia in front of him. He didn’t figure to have to answer for the hit since the Commission didn’t object and the only person to tie him to it was dead, Jerome Johnson. He was now a legend in the mafia, between the Anastasia and Colombo incidents. 

Even though they weren’t heartbroken about Colombo being eliminated, Crazy Joe was too much for the Commission. He was a bad seed and they weren’t about to let him bring his debauchery to their level. Most of the mobsters in the Colombo family felt the same way, they were less than enthusiastic about having an unstable killer for their boss. 

The most powerful Colombo members to oppose a Gallo promotion was none other than Carmine The Snake Persico. Together, Carmine and Crazy Joe had killed Anastasia but they had been at war ever since. They were already killing each other but now the position of family boss was on the line and the only person in the way was each other. 

Persico knew that Gallo was laying low in the mafia and hanging out with his hollywood friends before he reappeared. He got a number of Colombo family members and associates to agree to set up Gallo at the first opportunity. That opportunity presented itself on the early morning of April 7, 1972 when Gallo was spotted at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy. 

Persico had a team of killers that had been on call ready to go for months. When they got the call, four shooters showed up at Umberto’s and entered through the back door. They suddenly appeared in the dining room and emptied their guns into Gallo, who ran toward the door. In the last move of his life, Gallo pulled his own gun but was unable to get any shots off. Crazy Joe, the infamous killer was gone.  

Carmine Persico was on cloud nine, his biggest enemy in life was gone. This now also opened him up to become the boss of the Colombo family. The rest of the Gallo gang would die off  a couple years later eliminating that threat. His reign as boss would go on to be longer than Joe Profaci himself. Persico has been boss for nearly half a century, but it has hardly been a smooth reign. 

Back In The Can Again

The main problem for Persico as a boss is that he couldn’t stay out of prison. A year after taking over the family, he went back to federal prison for 6 more years in 1973. He made his brother Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico acting boss at this time. Persico also assigned a “frontman” boss, Thomas DiBella. It was a move designed to confuse the authorities. 

After getting paroled in 1979, Carmine was quickly back in prison again by 1981. This time he was convicted of trying to bribe an IRS agent. He was an absentee boss but still pulled all the strings from behind bars. DiBella retired in the late 70’s and in his place was Gennaro Langella aka “Jerry Lang”. Lang would become Persico’s most trusted ally over the next few years. 

In 1986, Persico and Jerry Lang were convicted of RICO charges in the Commision case. The heads of all five families were convicted in this case. It was the biggest ever single victory for the government against the mafia. At the time, the Commission strength and structure made the top bosses untouchable. RICO laws killed their insulation from the actual crimes. 

Carmine insisted on staying boss of the family even though he got 100 years and would never get out again. The Snake had survived shootings and bombing attempts on his life. With Joe Gallo long gone, he had been the most ruthless man in the New York mafia for years now. Persico had been involved in two of the most notorious mafia hits ever, that of Albert Anastasia and Crazy Joe Gallo. 

He let his family and the other families know that he would not step down under any circumstances, and that if anyone had an issue with it to come see Carmine. He had serious leadership issues at this point. The capable acting boss Jerry Lang was also convicted in the Commission case and off the streets. Beneath Carmine and Jerry, there was a considerable drop in experience. 

Carmine Persico would never get out of prison again. Being in prison is a vulnerable place for a mafia boss. He was constantly monitored, making the discussion of business a very difficult venture. Being locked up also weakened his crew. Without the Snake around, they weren’t quite as scary. All of a sudden, other players saw their chances to move in. 

3rd Colombo Family War  

Persico had the experience to know that he was going to have to pick another acting boss. He preferred keeping it in house with Allie Boy, but he was also convicted in the Commission case. He then named Vittorio “Little Vic” Orena new acting boss. Little Vic was a captain at the time. Carmine made it known from the start that Orena was just an interim boss, the family still belonged to him. 

Orena was no slouch. He was a well connected guy with multiple families. He had working relationships with John Gotti and the Gambinos. There was also his friendships with high level Lucchese family members like Victor Amuso, who shared the same nickname “Little Vic”. Orena was given the right to order murders and induct family members at his choosing. 

Although Persico gave him a wide berth of power, Orena soon began to resent Persico’s authority. Carmine had his day and he should now do the right thing and retire. Orena began to plot how he could forcefully take control from Persico. He approached the Commission who denied him. The other bosses weren’t necessarily loving Persico, but they were in the Gotti era and weary of more bad press.

After word got back to him about Orena’s betrayal, Persico went into a rage and ordered Orena and his top lieutenants killed. He gave the orders to his consigliere Carmine Sessa, the one who alerted him of Orena’s plan. The Colombo Crime Family was now in it’s 3rd civil war and this one would take the highest toll of them all. 

In 1991, Orena would escape an attempt on his life. He responded by sending two of his nephews on a killing spree of Persico loyalists. 12-15 deaths occurred during the war. Many of the killings during the early 1990’s could be tied to the vicious Persico loyalist Greg “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa. Scarpa was also an FBI informant who died of AIDS in 1994, when there was little treatment for the disease.

The war absolutely gutted the family ranks. More than 100 members or associates went to prison and over a dozen people died. Orena also got convicted in a RICO case, so the fight became pointless but continued. The family was kicked off the Commission while the war was going on. The Colombos were taking the mafia back to the 1920’s when power came from having the fastest gunslingers. 

Limping into the 21st Century

While the family war gutted the ranks, they still had some solid earners in the mid 1990s like Sonny Franzese and “Wild” Bill Cutolo. After the violence died down for a few years, they were allowed back on the Commission. Allie Boy was back out and quickly took back the position of acting boss. 

For the most part, the mobsters tried to put the negative feelings about the war behind them. There was one exception, Wild Bill Cutolo who had been on side Orena during the war. He was allowed to stay in the family and became underboss. Carmine and Allie Boy randomly decided to have Cutolo killed years later in 1999. 

William Cutolo Jr. was devastated over the murder of his father. He had followed his father into the life and knew who was responsible. He set out to get revenge against Allie Boy and underboss Jackie DeRoss. DeRoss had actually shown up at the Cutolo family residence demanding Wild Bill’s loansharking books and to warn them about cooperating. 

Young Cutolo would agree to cooperate with the FBI and wear a wire. Cutolo Jr. had originally intended to kill Persico and DeRoss, until he remembered how his father told him he’d much rather be dead than stuck in prison for life. Wearing the wire was a gutsy move and it paid off. Both Persico and DeRoss were indicted and then convicted of killing Wild Bill Cutolo. 

The position of acting boss then went to “Tommy Shots” Gioeli. His new underboss was a wise and very old gangster named John “Sonny” Franzese. Carmine Persico was still pulling the strings from prison, as he’s still doing to this day. All the infighting had severely damaged the strength and reputation that the Colombo family once had. 

Michael Franzese is now a well known public speaker. He openly discusses his mafia days under his father Sonny Franzese, although he still has to be coy about certain incidents and memories. He was a one time captain in the family, now retired and one of the few made men who talk openly about the inner workings of the mafia.