Colombo Family - Mafia Take Down Day (Part I)

Teddy Persico Jr aka "Skinny"

I had taken the trip to Spencer Street many times to see Eddie Garafolo at the Big R truck yard, but this particular day when I pulled into the lot I never reached the trailer that doubled as the office. Standing near a truck cab covered in grease was Teddy Persico Jr, who at the time was street boss of the Colombo Family.  Teddy quickly walked over to my truck and we started talking.  Teddy wanted to know what was going on, what I had going with a Manhattan company that sold phone time.  Teddy was trying to get a handle on how much money his other associates were making from the business.  Teddy Persico Jr had just gotten out of State Prison after 17 years on a drug charge.  Prior to prison, Teddy was a mover and shaker, a soldier who ran his own crew.  His crew specialized in drug dealing and robbing drug dealers. As we talked, he had no idea I was wearing a wire that was going to send him back behind bars.  Unlike most of the mafia associates I dealt with in New York, I liked Teddy.  He was a straight shooter, he didn’t bullshit, he did what he said he would do, and he was tough as hell.  I enjoyed being around him.   But I always kept in the back of my mind that he was a Persico.  

Eddie "the tall guy" Garafolo

Teddy was not one of my original targets, He was lucky (or unlucky) enough to get his sentence reduced after they changed the drug laws in New York State. My main target was Eddie Garafolo and his Uncle Manny.  Eddie was the son of the Edward Garafolo Sr who Sammy the Bull Had killed so he could take over his business. Teddy fell into the investigation because he was a partner in Eddies Big R trucking. Teddy Persico Jr was the Nephew to the long time Colombo boss Carmine "Gimpy" Persico Aka The Snake.  Teddy was cousin to the Acting boss “Allie Boy” Persico and son of Capo Theodore Persico Sr.  Teddy’s father, Capo Theodore Persico Sr was on the panel that ran the Colombo family.

That kind of pedigree doomed Teddy from birth and made the FBI very interested in what he was up to within the family.  Teddy was living on borrowed time the minute his trip home from prison was planned because Eddie and Teddy's brother Danny "The Town Drunk" Persico put me in charge of the entertainment for his four hour trip home from upstate New York.  The FBI knew that he was going to a meeting as soon as he arrived in Manhattan. Teddy's first stop was at the Bruno Magli store where he was upset that they no longer carried pointed toe dress shoes.

Edward "The Tall Guy" Garafolo was an active associate of the Colombo Family who had done a lot of things for them. He had done some Pump and Dumps on Wall St for the Family and when the indictments came down he was in the wind.  He spent a lot of time in Las Vegas because he loves to gamble.  While there, he hung out at the Crazy Horse Too with Johnny “Greens” Faraci’s son.  Eddie even made it to La Jolla California where he hid out in a luxury beach community.  He came home and was given some house arrest and parole, so he went to work for one of his relatives in the porn business in Brooklyn.  He would also become involved with the same phone business as I would later work with in the city.  Eddie took a large sum out of the business and started Big R trucking, which was named after his son Rocco.  He ran it out of Bonafide Fuel Oil’s truck lot in Downtown Brooklyn.

Eddie once told me that he was living in Florida when he had the worst day of his life.  He got word his father had been gunned down in Brooklyn. Eddie liked to talk and I was there with my wire to get it all on tape.  I used to head out to Big R trucking in Staten Island a couple of times a week to see Eddie after he moved the company there. I would have my devices running and I would capture all those who joined in our conversation. One of the men I would capture was Steve Marcus who was a partner in the trucking business with Eddie, and also a Gambino family associate on record.. Steve Marcus had been friends with Eddie’s father, and had known Eddie for over 30 years.  Because of these conversations with Eddie and Steve, the FBI was also able to tap their phones and do other surveillance on them.  I left Brooklyn in 2005 after I had gotten plenty of tapes on Teddy, Eddie, Steve and Uncle Manny but the FBI did not take down Eddie or Uncle Manny at that time.  They did choose to take down Teddy, his brother and his cousin.  Teddy was becoming increasingly violent and erratic.  Strangely enough, Eddie skated on charges when we were in his truck headed to take care of Craig Marino.  I wondered about how he was able to get away from all I recorded because he was with us when we were in Teddy's mothers house discussing Craig and George who was Craigs lackey. He helped plan the limo ride home for Teddy and he helped his Uncle Manny with stuff in the phone company in the city. The FBI takes its time and they make great cases after they give you enough rope to hang yourself.

You would think that Eddie would have been smart enough to stop for awhile after I left Brooklyn but greed and arrogance has that effect and he kept it up.  When I was in Canada and no longer going back to Brooklyn, Eddie called me and wanted to know where I was staying. Eddie actually told me that he was thinking about taking a ride up there to see me.  How stupid did he think I was?  Eddie was going to drive to Toronto from Brooklyn to see me.  

Next week more on Teddy & Eddie’s demise.