By Gangsters Inc. Publishers
Ancient Colombo mafia family Boss Theodore “Teddy” Persico Jr. just can’t seem to stay away from life. He returns to federal prison after a Brooklyn judge ruled that he violated the terms of his supervised release by meeting with known mob members.
Last December, Persico walked into Ponte Vecchio, an Italian restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where Christmas wreaths hung on the walls and a buffet waited inside. So was a roomful of Colombo smarts who had been strictly forbidden to avoid. There were handshakes, hugs and kisses on the cheek, the kind of old-fashioned greetings, prosecutors say, that are rarely merely social when they involve enthroned members of the state. La Cosa Nostra.
Persico knew the rules. After serving most of a five-year sentence for his role in a union operation in Queens, he was released from federal prison in May 2025. The conditions were very clear: no contact with organized crime figures, no trailing the places where they congregate, no exceptions.
But Persico arrived anyway.
Persico's attorney, Joseph Corozzo Jr., downplayed the restaurant encounter, telling the court: “There's a quick exchange of pleasantries, a seven-minute meeting, and then it's over.” » Persico even wore a work shirt from his Staten Island employer, Vintage Collision, and made no effort to hide his presence from probation authorities, Corozzo noted.
Federal prosecutors didn't believe it. Authorities said Persico also met a Colombo family gangster outside a Manhattan hospital and greeted a member of the Gambino family outside a Staten Island auto body shop. It wasn't just Persico who was social. It was business. A mafia affair.
Mafia uncle
His uncle, Carmine Persicowould be proud. Persico ruled the family for decades, even though he was locked up for life. His word was law and was not questioned. You kept your mouth shut and did your time. You also do work, the kind that ends lives.
Persico showed that he was capable of committing a deadly sin. In the early 1990s, during the bloody Colombo family war, he was convicted of plotting to murder his rival. Joseph Scopo. After serving eight years, he was released in 2020 and quickly positioned himself as the family's next boss. A year later, he was charged again. Prosecutors said Persico led much of the labor racketeering scheme targeting a Queens union.
By July 2025, Persico was on the streets, but still on probation. He was ordered to stay away from other gangsters, but he ruined everything within months. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to nine months in prison for violating his probation. Back to a place he knows well. Steel bars everywhere.
Before handing down his sentence, the judge told Persico, “I hope you can break this cycle,” he told Persico. History suggests that this is easier said than done.
Copyright © Gangsters Inc.
