Feds: Colombo crime family members charged with racketeering and extortion

The alleged head of the Colombo crime family and 13 other mobsters attempted for two decades to seize control of a Queens construction union and its health care benefit fund, prosecutors said in a 19-count indictment unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court that charges the defendants with labor racketeering, extortion and other crimes.

Twelve of the defendants, including reputed Colombo boss Andrew "Mush" Russo, 87, of Glen Head, were arrested early Tuesday in New York and New Jersey, according to federal prosecutors, and were scheduled to appear in federal court later in the day.

Another defendant, Vincent Ricciardo of Franklin Square, was arrested in North Carolina and was expected to appear later Tuesday in federal court in Charlotte. A 14th defendant, alleged Colombo crime family consigliere Ralph DiMatteo, of Merrick, remains at large.

"Today’s charges describe a long-standing, ruthless pattern by the administration of the Colombo crime family, its captains, members and associates, of conspiring to exert control over the management of a labor union by threatening to inflict bodily harm on one of its senior officials and devising a scheme to divert and launder vendor contract funds from its health care benefit program," said Acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis.

Russo’s attorney, George Galgano of White Plains, did not return a request for comment.

The 20-year scheme to take over the union, which is not named in court documents, began in 2001 when Ricciardo, a Colombo family captain, demanded and began receiving a portion of the salary of a union official identified in the indictment as "John Doe #1," according to the indictment.

Ricciardo, his cousin and Colombo associate Domenick Ricciardo of Franklin Square and Colombo soldier Michael Uvino of Garden City used threats of violence against John Doe #1 and his family in order to continue the payments for 20 years, according to court documents.

"[He] knows I’ll put him in the ground right in front of his wife and kids, right in front of his [expletive] house," Vincent Ricciardo said in June, according to court documents quoting a recorded conversation.

In 2019, the Colombo crime family’s leaders broadened the extortion attempt by forcing John Doe #1 and other union officials to hire vendors associated with the Colombo family. The defendants also sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the union’s health care fund to Colombo crime family leaders.

Vincent Ricciardo, known as "Vinny Unions," told the union it had to hire an assistant administrator who would take control of the organization.

"Youse are gonna have a trustee meeting, youse are gonna hire him as an administrator, whatever the [expletive] you do, and he’s gonna call the shots," Ricciardo said, according to the court papers.

Other defendants in the case include Theodore Persico of Brooklyn, the nephew of the late Colombo boss Carmine Persico.

"Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat itself," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll. "The underbelly of the crime families in New York City is alive and well. These soldiers, consiglieres, under bosses and bosses are obviously not students of history, and don't seem to comprehend that we're going to catch them."

The indictment also charged Bonnano crime family soldier John Ragano of Franklin Square with issuing fraud workplace safety training certifications. Ragano, who operated workplace safety schools in Franklin Square and Ozone Park, and his partners Domenick Ricciardo and John Glover of Queens falsified paperwork to the U.S. Department of Labor and other agencies that claimed hundreds of workers had completed safety courses when in reality they had not. The defendants used Ragano’s schools to conduct mob business and store illegal drugs and fireworks, officials said.

Other defendants, including Vincent Ricciardo, Uvino and Ragano, were charged with loansharking. Prosecutors said they loaned an individual identified in court papers as "John Doe #2" $250,000 and charged him a weekly 1.5% interest rate that did not reduce the principal.

Ragano's attorney, Joel Stein of New York, declined comment. Attorneys for Domenick Ricciardo, Uvino, Persico and Glover did not immediately respond to requests for comment.