Colombo Crime Family Boss, Underboss, Consigliere and Captains Are Among the
Defendants Charged with Labor Racketeering, Extortion and Money Laundering
In federal court in Brooklyn, a 19-count indictment was unsealed
charging 14 defendants, including 10 members and associates of the Colombo crime family of
La Cosa Nostra and a member of the Bonanno organized crime family, with various offenses
including labor racketeering involving multiple predicate acts of extortion conspiracy, attempted
extortion and extortion, extortionate collection of credit conspiracy, extortionate collection of
credit and money laundering conspiracy. The charges in the indictment against the Colombo
crime family members relate to multiple charged schemes in a long-running effort by the crime
family to infiltrate and take control of a Queens-based labor union (the “Labor Union”) and its
affiliated health care benefit program (the “Health Fund”) that provides medical benefits,
including dental, optical and pharmacy benefits, to the members of the Labor Union, and to a
conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with workplace safety certifications.
Among those charged with racketeering are Andrew “Mush” Russo, the boss of
the Colombo crime family, Benjamin “Benji” Castellazzo, the underboss, and Ralph DiMatteo,
the consigliere. Alleged Colombo crime family captains Theodore Persico, Jr., Richard Ferrara
and Vincent Ricciardo are charged with racketeering, along with soldier Michael Uvino and
associates Thomas Costa and Domenick Ricciardo. In addition, alleged Bonanno family soldier
John Ragano is charged with loansharking, fraud and drug trafficking offenses.
Thirteen defendants were arrested in New York and New Jersey and are
scheduled to be arraigned via videoconference this afternoon before United States Magistrate
Judge Taryn A. Merkl at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Vincent Ricciardo was arrested in
North Carolina and will be arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler in
federal court in Charlotte. DiMatteo remains at large.
Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of
New York; Michael Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
New York Field Office (FBI); Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Department of
Labor Office of Inspector General, New York Region (DOL-OIG); Patrick J. Ryder,
Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD); Dermot F. Shea, Commissioner,
New York City Police Department (NYPD); and Margaret Garnett, Commissioner, New York
City Department of Investigation (DOI), announced the charges and arrests.
“The 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. In addition, for their own enrichment, the defendants conspired to engage in
extortionate loansharking, money laundering and fraud, as well as drug trafficking,” stated
Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis. “This Office and its law enforcement partners are committed to
dismantling organized crime families, eliminating their corrupt influence in our communities and
protecting the independence of labor unions.”
Ms. Kasulis also thanked the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits
Security Administration, Atlanta and New York Offices (DOL-EBSA), the Nassau County
District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gang Section
for their valuable assistance in the investigation.
“Everything we allege in this investigation proves history does indeed repeat
itself. 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. Regardless of how many times they fill the void we
create in their ranks, our FBI Organized Crime Task Force, and our law enforcement partners,
are positioned to take them out again, and again,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Driscoll.
“An important mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate
criminal allegations relating to organized crime and their illicit influence over labor unions and
their affiliated employee benefit plans. We will continue to work with our law enforcement
partners to investigate these types of allegations,” stated DOL-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge
Mellone.
“The indictment of 14 defendants, including members of the Columbo crime
family on labor racketeering, extortion and money laundering charges should send a clear and
concise message that these types of crimes will never be tolerated by law enforcement. By
infiltrating and taking control of a Queens-based labor union and its affiliated health care benefit
program these defendants were able to extort a substantial amount of money which should have
been used for the members of the union. These benefits included medical, dental, optical and
pharmaceutical. Congratulations to all of the investigators and their affiliated agencies on a job
well done during this extensive investigation,” stated NCPD Commissioner Ryder.
“This indictment is another example of the NYPD’s long-term commitment,
working with its law enforcement partners, in making sure those accused of organized crime are
held accountable. I commend those who carried out the investigation as well as the office of the
United States Attorney for the Eastern District in New York for its work in ensuring there is
justice in this case,” stated NYPD Commissioner Shea.
“Every time construction certifications are faked, every time bogus records are
created and used to manipulate the facts, building in this City is undermined and New Yorkers'
safety is compromised. This investigation is evidence of how corruption can erode the integrity
of construction in New York City. And these charges reveal how DOI is working with its law
enforcement partners to uncover and stop the illegal conduct,” stated DOI Commissioner
Garnett. “DOI thanks the City Department of Buildings for reporting allegations related to this
conduct, and the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the
FBI, and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor for their partnership.”
As set forth in the indictment and other court documents, the defendants and their
co-conspirators committed a variety of crimes – including extortion, loansharking, fraud and
drug trafficking – on behalf of the Colombo organized crime family. First, the Colombo crime
family’s administration, including Russo, Castellazzo and Dimatteo, as well captains Persico,
Ferrara and Vincent Ricciardo, used extortionate means, including direct threats of bodily harm,
to control the management of the Labor Union and caused it to make decisions that benefitted the
Colombo crime family. Since approximately 2001, Colombo captain Vincent Ricciardo and his
cousin, associate Domenick Ricciardo, have collected a portion of the salary of a senior official
in the Labor Union (“John Doe #1”) by threatening to harm John Doe #1 and his family. At the
direction of the Colombo crime family’s leadership, beginning in late 2019, the defendants
broadened the extortion effort to force John Doe #1 and others at the Labor Union and its
affiliated Health Fund to make decisions that benefitted the Colombo crime family, including by
forcing them to select vendors for contracts who were associated with the Colombo crime
family. The defendants sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the Health Fund’s
assets to the administration of the Colombo crime family.
For example, on June 21, 2021, in a consensually recorded conversation, Vincent
Ricciardo threatened to kill John Doe #1 if he did not comply with Vincent Ricciardo’s demands.
He explained that John Doe #1 knows, “I’ll put him in the ground right in front of his wife and
kids, right in front of his f-----g house, you laugh all you want pal, I’m not afraid to go to jail, let
me tell you something, to prove a point? I would f-----g shoot him right in front of his wife and
kids, call the police, f--k it, let me go, how long you think I’m gonna last anyway?”
Further, Colombo crime family members Russo, Castellazzo, Dimatteo, Ferrara,
Persico, Vincent Ricciardo, Uvino joined with defendants Thompkins and Bellantoni, among
others, to devise a scheme to launder money from Health Fund contracts and payments through
third parties and eventually to the Colombo crime family’s leaders. The defendants attempted to
re-bid Health Fund vendor contracts for claims administration, pharmaceuticals and other health
services to persons and companies affiliated with the defendant Joseph Bellantoni. Bellantoni
and others agreed that in exchange for the new vendor contracts, they would pay kickbacks to the
Colombo crime family and would use various intermediaries to hide the payments.
The indictment also charges Bonanno organized crime family soldier John
Ragano with leading a scheme to issue fraudulent workplace safety training certifications. As
alleged, Ragano operated two workplace safety schools in the New York area that claimed to
provide Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (“OSHA”) training courses and
certifications, along with various New York state certifications, to construction industry workers.
Rather than provide training, Ragano along with his business partner John Glover and Domenick
Ricciardo, falsified paperwork to the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies
which represented that hundreds of workers had completed required safety courses when in
reality they had not. Instead, various defendants used Ragano’s “schools” to conduct meetings
involving members of La Cosa Nostra and to store illegal drugs and fireworks.
Vincent Ricciardo, Uvino, Ragano and Costa are also charged with loansharking.
As alleged, these defendants participated in extending and collecting on extortionate loans
totaling $250,000 to an individual identified as “John Doe #2.” The defendants charged and
collected a weekly 1.5% interest rate that did not reduce the principal owed and divided the
proceeds between themselves. Further, Vincent Ricciardo, Ragano, Costa, Glover and Vincent
Martino were charged with conspiracy to distribute marijuana by transporting large shipments of
marijuana in vehicles from New York to Florida. Vincent Ricciardo and Costa were also
charged, as previously convicted felons, with possessing and transporting ammunition, and
Persico, who is currently on federal supervised release following his release for a prior
racketeering conviction, was charged with lying to federal court officers about his dealings with
other Colombo crime family members.
The charges in the indictment are allegations, and the defendants are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, the defendants each face up to 20 years’
imprisonment.
