Reputed Colombo crime boss Vincent Ricciardo of Franklin Square pleads guilty to racketeering

A Franklin Square man considered to be a captain in the Colombo crime family pleaded guilty Friday to federal racketeering charges related to a labor extortion scheme in a case that involved numerous other reputed members and associates of the crime clan, federal officials said.

Vincent Ricciardo, 77, also known as “Vinny Unions,” entered a guilty plea in Brooklyn federal court to a rackets charge which involved extortion of a high-ranking official of a Queens-based labor union, Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.  The racketeering charge also involves loan-sharking and conspiracy to commit money laundering, said Peace.

Ricciardo’s guilty plea capped a major prosecution aimed at the Colombo crime which led to the conviction of 14 men allegedly tied to the crime family, including reputed high-ranked members considered by law enforcement officials to be part of the family ruling administration.  Also pleading guilty earlier in the week to a racketeering charge was Theodore Persico Jr., 59, the nephew of the late crime family boss Carmine Persico, and considered by federal officials to be slated as the next boss.

Other reputed members of the crime family who pleaded guilty earlier in the case were Benjamin Castellazzo, 85, of Manahawkin, New Jersey, considered to be the underboss, who plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy a week ago, said Peace.  Ralph DiMatteo, 68, of  Merrick, the reputed consiglieri, also pleaded guilty a week ago to racketeering involving extortion and a money laundering conspiracy, added Peace.

“Today, there can be no doubt that the Colombo crime family has been decapitated as a result of the guilty pleas by its leadership and other facilitators of lucrative schemes,” said Peace.

According to court filings and previous proceedings, the case involved the late Andrew Russo, the former crime family boss, and the other defendants shaking down the union official for part of his salary and forcing the union to use certain vendors hand-picked by the mobsters. Russo died in April  2022 at the age of 87 before he had a chance to plead guilty.

Peace said that some of the defendants in the case devised a scheme to launder money from the union's health care fund contracts and vendor payments. In addition one of the defendants, reputed Bonanno crime family soldier John Ragano, allegedly concocted a scheme to issue fraudulent workplace safety training certificates from two occupational safety schools he purported to operate on Long Island.  Ragano, 61, of Franklin Square, pleaded guilty in November to a fraud conspiracy charge and was sentenced in April to 57 months in prison, explained Peace.

The Colombo crime family, named after the late boss Joseph Colombo, has been in a state of disarray over the years.  It was the subject of a vicious factional mob war in Brooklyn from 1991 to about 1993 in which at least 12 men died and seven were wounded, including some innocent bystanders.  The war stopped after federal officials targeted the crime family with intense scrutiny.

Although he was sentenced to an effective life term in prison in the famous Mafia Commission trial of 1986,  Carmine Persico directed his crime family from federal prison and was considered its boss until his death in 2019 at the age of 85.

According to Peace, Ricciardo, Castellazzo, DiMatteo and Theodore Persico face up to 30 year in prison when they are sentenced at a later date.     

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.