The Colombo crime family stands as a notorious pillar within the landscape of New York City’s organized crime. Alongside the Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, and Bonanno families, the Colombo Family forms one of the “Five Families,” a powerful consortium of criminal organizations that have historically divided and controlled illicit activities across the city. These Five Families are not isolated entities; they are integral to the broader nationwide network of organized crime known as La Cosa Nostra, often referred to simply as the Mafia. This “Our Thing” has exerted a significant influence on American crime for decades.
The genesis of the Colombo family, like its sister families, traces back to the tumultuous end of the Castellammarese War (1930-1931). This brutal Mafia power struggle resulted in the deaths of approximately 60 mobsters, including several high-ranking figures. In the aftermath of this conflict, Salvatore Lucania, famously known as Charles “Lucky” Luciano, strategically established The Commission. This criminal board of directors aimed to bring order and structure to the chaotic world of organized crime. Comprising representatives from the newly established Five Families and leaders from other major crime factions across the United States, including Al Capone’s Chicago Outfit, The Commission was designed to mediate disputes, act as judge and jury, and enforce its will within the criminal underworld. Crucially, the bosses of the Five Families were granted permanent seats on this Commission, solidifying their power and influence for the long term.
Joseph Profaci in 1959, showcasing his stern demeanor.
Joseph Profaci was appointed as the head of the group that would eventually become recognized as the Colombo family. Profaci, an immigrant from Sicily who arrived in the United States in 1921 in his early twenties, skillfully built an empire based on olive oil importation. His business acumen and personable nature allowed him to climb the ranks of the Mafia, establishing a reputation as both a shrewd businessman and a respected figure within the underworld. For nearly three decades, Profaci presided over the family, engaging in lucrative criminal enterprises such as loan-sharking, racketeering, and illegal gambling operations. He forged a close alliance with Joseph Bonanno, the head of the Bonanno family, further strengthening his position within the Five Families.
However, the seemingly stable reign of Joseph Profaci was disrupted in 1960 when internal strife erupted within the family. Joseph “Crazy Joe” Gallo and his brothers, ambitious members of the Colombo family, felt marginalized and believed they were not receiving their fair share of the profits and power. This dissatisfaction fueled a rebellion against Profaci’s leadership, initiating a bloody internal conflict known as the Gallo-Profaci War. Loyalists on both sides engaged in a series of violent attacks and assassinations that lasted for several years, resulting in the deaths of approximately a dozen individuals and destabilizing the family’s operations. The war continued until Profaci’s death from cancer in 1962.
Following Profaci’s demise, Joseph Magliocco, his brother-in-law, assumed leadership, inheriting a family fractured by internal conflict and with a precarious hold on power. Magliocco reluctantly honored Profaci’s alliance with Joseph Bonanno, despite reservations about Bonanno’s increasingly ambitious schemes. Around this time, Bonanno was actively plotting to seize control as “boss of bosses” by orchestrating the assassinations of Carlo Gambino and Thomas Lucchese, the heads of two other powerful Five Families. Magliocco tasked Joseph Colombo, one of his most trusted and ruthless assassins, with carrying out these murders. However, Colombo, in a calculated move, betrayed both Magliocco and Bonanno by revealing their plot to The Commission. The Commission reacted swiftly and decisively. Bonanno was forced into hiding to avoid retribution, Magliocco was compelled to retire from his position, and, unexpectedly, Joseph Colombo was rewarded for his betrayal by being elevated to the head of the family, which was subsequently renamed in his honor as the Colombo family. At the height of his power, Joseph Colombo reportedly commanded a formidable force of up to 200 men, engaging in a diverse range of criminal activities including loan-sharking, extortion targeting local trade unions and restaurants, and the increasingly profitable narcotics trade.
In a surprising and calculated public relations move in April 1970, Joseph Colombo publicly accused the FBI of racial profiling against Italian Americans. He organized pickets outside the FBI headquarters in New York and founded the Italian American Civil Rights League. This organization, ostensibly aimed at combating discrimination, served as a strategic maneuver to deflect government scrutiny and investigations into his and the Colombo family’s criminal activities. The league quickly gained a significant following, boasting 125,000 members at its peak. Facing public pressure and potential political repercussions, the FBI responded by ceasing the use of the terms “Mafia” and “Cosa Nostra,” acknowledging the terms as potentially offensive. Colombo’s influence even extended to Hollywood. In 1971, he successfully pressured the production of the iconic film The Godfather (1972) to remove any mentions of “Mafia” or “Cosa Nostra” from the script before filming commenced, demonstrating his reach and influence.
However, Colombo’s reign was abruptly cut short in 1971 when he was shot and paralyzed. Carmine J. “The Snake” Persico, a veteran soldier from the Profaci era and the earlier Gallo War, stepped in to assume leadership of the Colombo family. Persico’s leadership was marked by a long period of imprisonment. In 1986, he was convicted on extensive federal racketeering and extortion charges and sentenced to a staggering combined prison term of 139 years with no possibility of parole. Despite his incarceration, Persico remarkably maintained control of the family from behind bars. His initial plan was to pass leadership to his son, Alphonse Persico, but Alphonse was also imprisoned at the time. Therefore, Persico appointed Victor J. Orena as interim boss to manage the family’s day-to-day operations. However, in 1991, Orena, driven by ambition, attempted to seize complete control of the Colombo family, igniting another brutal internal war. This conflict, even more violent and protracted than the Gallo War, raged for approximately three years and resulted in the deaths of ten more individuals, further weakening the already fractured family. Eventually, in the mid-1990s, The Commission intervened to broker a truce, installing Persico’s cousin, Joseph Russo, as interim boss of the significantly diminished Colombo family.
The Colombo family’s power and influence continued to decline in the latter part of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The implementation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in 1970 provided law enforcement with powerful new tools to combat organized crime. The FBI intensified its efforts to dismantle the Mafia families, leading to a peak in convictions during the 1980s and 1990s. In the 21st century, a series of arrests further weakened the family, with numerous members imprisoned on charges ranging from extortion to murder. A particularly impactful law enforcement operation occurred in 2011 when 119 individuals with alleged ties to organized crime were arrested in a single day. Of these, 34 were reportedly connected to the Colombo family. The FBI hailed this operation as the largest single action against the mob in its history. Despite these setbacks, the fractured Colombo family persisted in its criminal activities. Following Carmine Persico’s death in prison in 2019, another cousin, Andrew “Andy Mush” Russo, reportedly assumed leadership. However, Russo and other key leaders were arrested in 2021 on extortion charges, and Russo himself died in 2022 while awaiting trial, leaving the future leadership and stability of the Colombo family uncertain in the face of continued law enforcement pressure and internal vulnerabilities.
