75 to 85 members
Boss: Carmine �Junior� Persico, 71
Underboss : John �Jackie� DeRoss, 67
Consigliere: Joel �Joe Waverly� Cacace, 63
For nearly twenty years�since he was arrested on February 15, 1985�Carmine Persico has run the Colombo family from behind bars. Convicted of racketeering twice�once in the historic Commission trial, when he represented himself�Persico has guided his clan through a bloody two-year war that cost the lives of ten combatants and two bystanders. Housed in a federal prison in faraway Lompoc, California, he has maintained control through a string of acting bosses, including his college-educated son Alphonse, 50.
In recent years, however, Alphonse, John �Jackie� DeRoss, Joel �Joe Waverly� Cacace, and Andrew Russo, 70, a Persico cousin who filled in as acting boss for a time, have themselves been convicted and jailed. These days, the family�s �street boss� is Thomas �Tommy Shots� Gioeli, 52, of Farmingdale. Gioeli was a staunch Persico ally during the 1991�93 war. He�s had chronic back problems for decades, but they didn�t deter his effort against rebels aligned with Victor �Little Vic� Orena. On March 27, 1992, he was wounded in a wild car chase�shootout in Brooklyn. �He�s got a crew of shooters who haven�t really gotten touched,� says one police source. The last time Gioeli saw the inside of prison was in 1980, for robbery. A key factor for his strength has been his ability to bridge the gap that exists between mobsters who were shooting at each other a decade ago. His top aide, acting capo Paul �Paulie Guns� Bevacqua, was an Orena supporter, as was Cacace, who paid Tommy Shots the highest compliment in 2000. �If you need to see me, tell Tommy,� he told then�Bonanno underboss Salvatore �Good Looking Sal� Vitale. �Talking to Tommy is just like talking to me.�