Carmine “Junior” Persico the boss of the Colombo crime family was sentenced to 100 years in prison for a racketeering conviction in the 1986 Mafia commission trial.
The aging mobster has been fightings to have that sentence set aside but saw his efforts once again shot down. A Manhattan federal judge in a 24-page decision denied Persico’s request to be resentenced stating that the defendant was convicted by overwhelming evidence in what was a fair trial. But Persico maintains that his sentence is constitutionally defective because of the feds failure to disclose favorable information to him and his defense team before trial and at his sentencing.
Persico insist that FBI records prove that other mobsters were serving as the Colombo family boss at the time of the mob hit on Carmine Galante in 1979, and since he wasn’t the boss of the Cosa Nostra family at the time he could not have been part of the Mafia Commission. This means that he couldn’t have had anything to do with the historic NY Mafia hit on Galante a murder which he believes formed the basis of his sentence. But the judge wasn’t buying Persico’s claims and said the FBI reports submitted by Persico contained either “preliminary, challenged or speculative” information and this wouldn’t have changed the verdict at his trial if they had been presented and had nothing to do with his sentencing.
The judge in the last page of his ruling that nothing discovered by the defense since the trial and sentencing throws any doubt upon the previous conclusion. Defense attorney’s Mathew Mari and Anthony DiPietro have vowed to carry on the fight on behalf of Persico and said they were disappointed in the judges decision but plan to appeal the ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Perhaps Persico has a better chance at getting released on parole although that seems just as unlikely. But according to U.S. Parole Commission guidelines come January when Persico completes 30 years of his sentence parole would be mandatory unless “there is a reasonable probability that the prisoner will commit any Federal, State, or local crime, or that the prisoner has frequently or seriously violated the rules of (his) institution.”
But the feds still consider the aging mobster to be the official boss of the Colombo family and has allegedly ordered violent crimes from prison on numerous occasions over the years. These alleged orders include the Colombo family war from 1991-93 which left various Colombo family mobsters and other dead. The feds with the use of this information will definitely make a heavy push for the parole board to keep the infamous American mafia boss behind bars until his death which may not be far off due to reports of his declining health.
