To the 5 Families, the Fighting Colombos Have Been Black Sheep

Even to the 5 Families, the Fighting Colombos Have Been Black Sheep


By SELWYN RAAB

Published: December 10, 1991



Even within the violent councils of America's Mafia, authorities say, the Colombo crime family has long been feared as an erratic, troublesome gang.

The latest battle for internal control has claimed five lives and led the Brooklyn District Attorney to announce yesterday that a grand jury would investigate the dispute and that members of the family were being subpoenaed.

"We're not going to allow this county to become a shooting gallery where innocent people are being gunned down," the District Attorney, Charles J. Hynes, said. "This is the first step to make sure they know this is coming to an end. They've turned this into a class B movie, for heaven's sake!" First Open Revolt

It was the Colombo family that experienced the first open revolt against a New York boss in shootouts known as the Gallo Wars in the 1960's. It was a Colombo boss, Joseph Colombo, who was shot and paralyzed after forming an Italian-American civil rights group and bringing more unwanted attention to Mafia leaders.

And now the worst outbreak of Mafia violence in three decades apparently has been ignited in a long-distance dispute between an imprisoned Colombo boss, Carmine Persico, and his handpicked temporary successor, Victor J. Orena.

Law-enforcement officials and organized-crime experts cite the current Colombo conflicts as evidence of the general erosion in the power and influence of the region's five Mafia familes. The decay, they say, has stemmed from numerous convictions of experienced organized-crime leaders, a breakdown in loyalty and attempts by younger members to move up rapidly and violently.

"We are are witnessing the twilight of the godfathers," said Ralph F. Salerno, the former head of the New York City Police Department's organized-crime squad, and a consultant to Congressional committees. Roots Date to 1931

The Colombo family can trace its roots to 1931 when Mafia leaders organized five groups in New York City, law-enforcement authorities say. Joseph Profaci, who claimed he was an olive oil distributor in Brooklyn, was empowered as the boss of one of them, which is now identified by authorities as the Colombo family.

In the tradition of most of the nation's early bosses, Mr. Profaci avoided the public spotlight and was virtually unknown until the Gallo Wars erupted in 1960.

Joseph Gallo and his brother, Larry, felt they had been poorly paid for running rackets for the family. Shootouts erupted, and 13 gang members were killed, Mr. Salerno said. The shooting stopped after Mr. Profaci died of natural causes in 1962.

Mr. Salerno said the uprising had stunned the bosses of all five families because it was the first time a hierarchy had been openly challenged.

Mr. Colombo, who had been a capo or captain under Mr. Profaci, was appointed in 1963 to head the family, mainly with the support of Carlo Gambino, who was then the boss of the Gambino family, the nation's most powerful Mafia group. Pledged to End Strife

Top leaders of the three other families, the Genovese, Bonanno and Lucchese gangs, also assented. One of Mr. Colombo's pledges to the other bosses was that he would end the strife with the Gallo brothers.

Mr. Colombo, angered over the arrest of one of his sons and what he construed as harassment by law-enforcement authorities, founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League in 1969. Mr. Gambino and other reclusive Mafia leaders believed the league might draw attention to them. Mr. Colombo was gunned down and left paralyzed at a 1971 league rally in Columbus Circle.

A year later, Joseph Gallo was shot and killed in Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy. No one was convicted, but most law-enforcement experts say that Mr. Gallo, unhappy with Mr. Colombo, engineered his shooting and that associates of Mr. Colombo killed Mr. Gallo in retaliation. The New Boss Jailed

Soon after Mr. Colombo's shooting, Mr. Persico, who had been close to Mr. Profaci, emerged as the boss of the family. But in the 1970's and 1980's, Mr. Persico was convicted of racketeering and bribery that resulted in sentences of 100 years in prison.


In the last decade, Mr. Persico, who is 58 years old, has anointed at least four different aides to run the family. But, they were dislodged by convictions or disappeared and are believed to have been murdered.

In 1989, he appointed a close friend, Mr. Orena. But, last June, law-enforcement officials asserted, Mr. Persico's allies failed in an attempt to assassinate Mr. Orena. The feud, officials say, stemmed from Mr. Orena's refusal to share illicit profits with Mr. Persico's allies.

According to law-enforcement intelligence reports, Mr. Orena also refused to comply with an order by Mr. Persico to relinquish control in favor of Mr. Persico's son, Alphonse, who is scheduled to complete a prison term for racketeering in 1993. Most of the members of the Colombo family, the authorities say, apparently are siding with the Orena faction.

Mr. Orena, who is 57 and lives in Cedarhurst, in Nassau County, has been convicted on charges of gambling and perjury. The longest sentences he has served are four months in jail and five years on probation.