⚡ThirdSpace BUZZ: The Colombo Crime Family, Blood, Betrayal, and Endless Wars

From Joe Profaci’s olive oil empire to three brutal internal wars, the smallest of the Five Families has been defined by violence and division.

Mar 22, 2026

ThirdSpace BUZZ is an edgy newsletter on whatever the fuck I want. Today, a Mafia family full of informants that had hella troubles …

The Colombo crime family has been repeatedly torn apart by internal rebellions, bloody power struggles, and relentless federal prosecutions, leaving it as the most fractured and diminished of the Five.

⚡ Turmoil, Betrayal, and Enduring Decline

The Colombo crime family stands as the most volatile and smallest of New York’s Five Families, a legacy of internal bloodshed that has repeatedly fractured its ranks while its rivals consolidated power. Originally the Profaci family, it emerged in 1928 when Sicilian immigrant Giuseppe “Joe” Profaci built a bootlegging crew in Brooklyn’s Bensonhurst and Bay Ridge neighborhoods. Profaci, known as the “Olive Oil King” for his legitimate import business that masked rackets in loansharking, gambling, extortion, and narcotics, ruled for 34 years with a seat on the Commission formed after the Castellammarese War. He maintained low-profile prosperity through labor unions, hijacking, and prostitution tributes until heavy monthly dues sparked rebellion.

The family’s first major crisis erupted in 1960–1963. Profaci’s execution of bookmaker Frank “Frankie Shots” Abbatemarco for skimming tribute ignited fury among the Gallo brothers—Larry, Albert, and “Crazy Joe.” The Gallos kidnapped underboss Joseph Magliocco and capo Joseph Colombo, demanding fairer shares. Profaci reneged on promises, leading to retaliatory murders, including the near-strangling of Larry Gallo in a Brooklyn bar. At least nine killings and three disappearances marked the “First Colombo War.” Profaci died of cancer in June 1962; Magliocco briefly succeeded him but was ousted after plotting with Joseph Bonanno to assassinate rival bosses Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese. Colombo exposed the scheme to the Commission, earning leadership in 1963 and renaming the family.

Joseph Colombo, the youngest boss in Mafia history at 41, pursued a public profile that shocked traditionalists. In 1970 he founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League, protesting FBI use of “Mafia” as ethnic defamation. Rallies drew 50,000 at Columbus Circle and swelled league membership to 125,000; Colombo influenced The Godfather script to remove the words “Mafia” and “Cosa Nostra.” Yet the move alienated other families and masked ongoing rackets. On June 28, 1971, during a second Unity Day rally, Colombo was shot three times in the head by Jerome Johnson, a lone gunman with league credentials. Bodyguards killed Johnson instantly; Colombo lingered paralyzed until his 1978 death.

The power vacuum triggered the Second Colombo War (1971–1975). Released prisoner “Crazy Joe” Gallo demanded control and was murdered on April 7, 1972, at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy by Persico loyalists. Carmine “The Snake” Persico, a ruthless survivor of Gallo attempts, consolidated power by 1973 despite frequent imprisonment. Acting bosses like Thomas DiBella bridged gaps until Persico’s formal reign began in 1979.

Persico’s absentee rule from prison defined the family’s next era. Convicted in the 1986 Mafia Commission Trial and sentenced to 100 years, he directed operations through proxies. His appointment of Victor “Little Vic” Orena as acting boss backfired in 1991 when Orena sought Commission recognition to supplant Persico. The Third Colombo War exploded: Persico loyalists, led by hitman Gregory “The Grim Reaper” Scarpa (an FBI informant), clashed with Orena’s faction. Twelve mobsters and bystanders died; over 70 were convicted. Orena received life plus 85 years. Persico’s side prevailed but at catastrophic cost—membership plunged.

One final betrayal underscored the era’s ruthlessness. In 1999, after the war, charismatic captain William “Wild Bill” Cutolo—known for dressing as Santa for children’s charities—was promoted to underboss as a peace gesture. Days before his 50th birthday, Persico’s son Alphonse “Allie Boy” and underboss John “Jackie” DeRoss lured him to a Bay Ridge basement and murdered him, burying the body in Farmingdale. Cutolo’s son cooperated, helping convict the killers of murder in aid of racketeering; both received life sentences.

By 2011, massive FBI arrests—34 Colombos in one sweep—exposed the family’s frailty: fewer than 50 active members, the smallest of the Five Families. Informants like Scarpa, Carmine Sessa, and others dismantled crews. Rackets persisted in union extortion (Cement and Concrete Workers), gambling, and loansharking, but leadership churned through street bosses like Thomas “Tommy Shots” Gioeli and Andrew “Andy Mush” Russo (died 2022 after 2021 indictment).

As of 2026, the family remains diminished yet operational under reputed boss Theodore “Skinny Teddy” Persico Jr., who assumed control after Russo’s death despite recent supervised-release violations. Crews on Staten Island and Long Island continue low-level extortion and gambling, monitored by ongoing wiretaps and indictments. Three brutal internal wars, relentless prosecutions under RICO, and betrayals from within have prevented the Colombos from reclaiming the stability of Profaci’s olive-oil empire. Once a Commission powerhouse, the family today exemplifies the self-inflicted wounds that have left New York’s oldest Mafia faction as its most diminished—bloodied, fractured, but stubbornly refusing to disappear entirely.

👊 Key Figures in Colombo Family History

The Colombo crime family’s turbulent story has been shaped by a succession of larger-than-life personalities and notorious street soldiers whose power struggles defined one of the most unstable factions in the American Mafia.

Joe Profaci

Giuseppe “Joe” Profaci (1897–1962), nicknamed the “Olive Oil King,” founded the Profaci crime family (later Colombo) in 1928 after immigrating from Sicily. He built a vast empire in bootlegging, gambling, loansharking, narcotics, and olive oil imports while serving on the Mafia Commission. His tight-fisted demands for tribute sparked the First Colombo War with the Gallo brothers. He died of liver cancer in 1962 after 34 years as boss.

Frank Abbatemarco

Francesco “Frankie Shots” Abbatemarco (1899–1959) was a powerful Profaci family caporegime who controlled lucrative gambling and numbers rackets in Brooklyn. In 1959, boss Joe Profaci ordered his murder after discovering Abbatemarco had been skimming tribute money. Hit by Gallo crew members on November 4, 1959, his killing directly ignited the bloody First Colombo War, which raged for over a decade.

Joseph Magliocco

Joseph Magliocco (1898–1963), brother-in-law and longtime underboss to Joe Profaci, briefly became acting boss of the family in 1962. Lacking Commission approval, he joined Joseph Bonanno’s failed 1963 plot to assassinate rival bosses Carlo Gambino and Tommy Lucchese. Exposed by Joseph Colombo, Magliocco was demoted, fined, and forced into retirement. He died of a heart attack weeks later.

Carmine Persico

Carmine “The Snake” or “Junior” Persico (1933–2019) was a ruthless Colombo family street soldier who survived multiple assassination attempts during the Gallo wars. He became boss in the 1970s and ruled for decades, even from federal prison after a 100-year sentence in the 1986 Commission Trial. He orchestrated the 1972 murder of Joey Gallo and won the violent Third Colombo War against Victor Orena in the 1990s.

Vincenzo Aloi

Vincenzo “Vincent” Aloi (1933–2025), son of a Profaci capo, served as Colombo family acting boss from 1971 to 1973 following Joseph Colombo’s shooting. He later acted as consigliere and was involved in the 1991–1993 Orena-Persico war, initially siding with Orena. Convicted of perjury and stock fraud in the 1970s, he served significant prison time before living quietly until his death at age 91.

Thomas DiBella

Thomas “Tommy” DiBella (1904–1988) was a longtime Colombo family capo who became acting boss in the mid-1970s during Carmine Persico’s frequent imprisonments. A respected elder statesman, he helped stabilize the family after the Colombo shooting and Gallo wars, bridging power until Persico’s faction fully consolidated control. DiBella retired from active leadership in the late 1970s and died in 1988.

Victor Orena

Victor “Little Vic” Orena (born 1934) rose through labor racketeering to become Colombo acting boss in 1988. In 1991 he challenged Carmine Persico’s imprisoned leadership, sparking the bloody Third Colombo War that killed at least 12 people. Defeated by Persico loyalists led by Gregory Scarpa, Orena was arrested in 1992 and sentenced to life plus 85 years. He remains incarcerated.

Joseph Colombo

Joseph Colombo (1923–1978) became the youngest boss of the Colombo family in 1963 after exposing a rival assassination plot. He founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League in 1970, staging large rallies against FBI “defamation” and influencing The Godfather film. Shot three times in the head at a 1971 Unity Day rally, he survived paralyzed until dying of a heart attack in 1978.

Sonny Franzese

John “Sonny” Franzese (1917–2020) was a legendary Colombo family underboss and feared enforcer whose criminal career spanned eight decades. Reputedly involved in dozens of murders, he survived multiple long prison terms, including a 50-year sentence for bank robberies and an 8-year term at age 94. Released in 2017 as the oldest federal inmate, he died in 2020 at 103, one of the Mafia’s longest-living figures.

Michael Grillo

Michael Grillo (born 1951) was the supposed son of Frank Grillo who randomly disappeared. Michael’s last name was changed to Franzese at 18. There has been much debate about his true father. He became a capo in the 1980s through a gasoline tax bootlegging scam. Convicted of racketeering in 1986, he served nearly 10 years in prison. In a dramatic plot twist, he walked away from the Mafia in 1995, renounced crime, and now works as a motivational speaker, author, and YouTuber.