Why was Teddy chosen? To use the simplest term, it was nepotism: Skinny Teddy's father, who died in 2017, was the brother of Carmine (Junior) Persico, the legendary boss of the Colombo family, who died in 2019 at age 85 after spending the last 34 years of his life behind bars and serving a 100-year sentence.
A year after his release in 2020, Teddy Persico was arrested again, along with 10 other Colombo members and associates, for extortion from a Queens syndicate. They were accused of money laundering, drug trafficking and other crimes.
In July 2025, he began a three-year sentence on supervised release and began meeting other smart-alecks, which put him in his current predicament.
Teddy spent about half his life in prison, which probably saved his life. He was inside in the early 1990s when the Third Colombo War broke out. By staying off the streets, Teddy avoided death or a life sentence for murder, the fate of many Colombo smartasses who weren't lucky enough to be behind bars.
When Persico was released from prison in 2004, after serving time for drug trafficking, he returned to the Colombo family and immediately engaged in criminal conduct, according to court-authorized wiretaps.
On May 25, 2004, he was recorded discussing a weapon brought to him before a potentially violent encounter with another Colombo family soldier. Persico said, “They come over there, the (expletive) is dirty. How do you keep a gun with (expletive) dirty bullets in it in the first place? You have an automatic gun, you clean the bullets, you put them in the (expletive) magazine, and the magazine is ready, whenever you're ready.”
In another intercepted conversation on November 23, 2004, Persico discussed collecting a debt and asked his co-defendant to bring him an individual so he could give him a “(expletive) beating.” Persico further threatened that he would “go after his kids, that's all, until he (expletive) does the right thing.”
As he returns to prison now, it is only for nine months that he can do standing on his head. But how long before he gets pinched again?
Crime families whose bosses serve long prison sentences have, at best, a mixed record. While an imprisoned boss can absorb some of the pressure from law enforcement, protecting the acting boss on the street, this only seems to work if the boss in question has the confidence to be more of a figurehead who has the ability or talent to place the right people in the right jobs on the street. He may issue an occasional edict from his prison cell, but he largely distances himself from managing the day-to-day affairs of the borgata. (Luck, good or bad, can also play a role, naturally, in these and all situations.)
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| Amuso and Gaspipe chat with capo Frank Lastorino Sr. |
The Luches have apparently learned from past mistakes and avoided repeating the deadly mayhem that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, when more than a dozen members were killed (by boss Amuso and his underboss/partner/possible traitor Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso, who decimated the once immensely wealthy crime family at every level).
On the other side, you have Teddy's uncle, Carmine Persico, who remained boss after he began serving his long prison sentence. He ultimately provoked a long and bloody war when he took steps to elevate his son, Allie Boy, to succeed him as head of the crime family. Carmine's efforts fueled sub-boss Vic Orena's decision to move against the Persicos for control.
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| Bonanno boss Philip (Rusty) Rastelli. |
Bonanno members elected Rastelli first place on February 23, 1974, at a meeting at the Americana Hotel in Manhattan. Their decision proved cataclysmic for everyone involved. Rastelli's reign was ruinous, fueling waves of murderous purges (Carmine Galante, uprising of the three capos, etc.) and losses of lucrative rackets. Additionally, the family's substantial interests in the waste business forced Commission members to deny Rastelli a seat at the table with them, further eroding the power of the once legendary Bonanno family.
As for which bosses are free (currently anyway), based on various published reports and our best estimates:
