Allie Boy Persico sentenced to life in prison

Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, 55, was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole for ordering the 1999 murder of underworld rival William "Wild Bill" Cutolo, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

"The defendant was born into 'the life,' and like his father, Carmine Persico, will spend the rest of his life in prison," said federal Judge Joanna Seybert at sentencing.

In 2007, Alphonse Persico (left) was convicted of ordering the death of Cutolo, leader of a rival faction within the Colombo Crime Family. Codefendant Jackie DeRoss, 71, was also convicted of involvement in the murder and was also sentenced to life in prison. The Persico and Cutolo factions warred for control of the crime family in 1991, shortly after boss Carmine Persico's 1986 conviction for racketeering and murder.

Cutolo disappeared in 1999. His remains were not discovered until last fall.

FBI identifies Cutolo's remains

A body pulled from the ground in a wooded area of Farmingdale, Long Island, has been identified as that of William Cutolo Sr., according to a story published by the New York Times.

FBI agents matched distinctive features of the remains with those of Cutolo, a Colombo Crime Family underboss who has been missing and presumed dead since 1999. The agents used dental records and noted that the body was missing the tip of its right middle finger, a match for Cutolo.

Last year, reputed Colombo big shots Alphonse Persico and John DeRoss were convicted of involvement in Cutolo's murder. Their legal defense included an argument that Cutolo might still be alive.

Mob burial ground on Long Island?

The FBI will not discuss details but acknowledges that it is digging in two areas of Farmingdale, Long Island NY, in an effort to find the remains of mob victims, according to a story published in the New York Times.

A law enforcement source said one of the bodies sought was that of William Cutolo Sr. (right), missing since 1999. Alphonse Persico and John DeRoss, reputed leaders in the Colombo Crime Family, were convicted last year of causing Cutolo's death.

A report by WABC-TV in New York indicated that local homicide detectives and members of the New York medical examiner's office were on hand at the dig locations. Excavation is taking place at a Farmingdale industrial complex, which was built nine years ago, and at a section of woods nearby. The areas have been roped off and designated as crime scenes.

Jury convicts Persico of 1999 'hit'

A federal jury in Brooklyn yesterday convicted Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico (right), reputed boss of the Colombo Crime Family, of ordering the 1999 killing of underboss William "Wild Bill" Cutolo, according to a story by John Marzulli of the New York Daily News.

Persico, 53, and codefendant John "Jackie" DeRoss, were found guilty of conspiring to eliminate Cutolo in an effort to consolidate their power within the crime family. The Colombo clan had gone through a bloody civil war in the 1990s. Factions reportedly reached a cease-fire agreement, but Cutolo was a casualty of a lingering grudge.

Persico and DeRoss were found not guilty of charges related to the killing of crime family soldier Joseph Campanella.


Cutolo (left) was last seen on May 26, 1999. He was reportedly on his way to meet Persico in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Persico and DeRoss were first tried in connection with his assumed murder last year. That trial resulted in a hung jury.


For this year's trial U.S. Attorneys brought Cutolo's wife Marguerite to the stand. She directly accused Persico of causing her husband's death and refuted defense theories that Cutolo ran off with a fortune and was in hiding. Marguerite had been in the witness protection program since 2001.


"My husband never ran away," she said from the witness stand. "I'm appearing here for my husband, for his death."

Prosecutors provided bits of evidence indicating that Cutolo was killed and that his body was dumped off a boat at sea.

Like his father, former Colombo boss Carmine "the Snake" Persico, now 74 and serving a life sentence for racketeering, Alphonse Persico is expected to spend the rest of his days behind bars.

Wife testifies against Cutolo's accused killers

Marguerite Cutolo took the witness stand last week to point an accusing finger at reputed Colombo Crime Family boss Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico (right), according to a story by John Marzulli and Corky Siemaszko of the New York Daily News.

Mrs. Cutolo stepped out of the witness protection program in order to testify in the retrial of Persico and former Colombo underboss John DeRoss for the murder of her husband, William "Wild Bill" Cutolo. She had entered witness protection in 2001.

On the stand last week, she stated that her husband was on his way to meet Persico in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on May 26, 1999, when she last saw him. Cutolo has been missing since that date and is presumed dead.

On cross examination, defense attorneys suggested that William Cutolo is still alive and that the Cutolos have hidden as much as $2.7 million in loanshark earnings. Mrs. Cutolo admitted to possessing $1.65 million in cash at the time of her husband's disappearance. She said government officials were aware of the money and allowed her to keep it to take care of her children.

She denied the defense assertion that William Cutolo remains alive, according to a story by Selim Algar of the New York Post. "My husband never ran away," she said. "...I'm appearing here for my husband, for his death."

Mrs. Cutolo did not testify when Persico and DeRoss were first tried for the murder last year. That trial ended in a hung jury.

Prosecutors charge that Persico waited six years after a ceasefire in a bloody Colombo Crime Family civil war to eliminate his rival for power, William Cutolo (left). "The Colombo war never really ended, at least not in the minds of men like Alphonse Persico," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Goldberg said in his opening statement on Nov. 6.

Defense attorney Sarita Kedia countered, "There is not a single piece of evidence to prove to you that Billy Cutolo is even dead."