Carmine Persico

Carmine’s brothers, Theodore Persico and Alphonse Persico, followed in their brother’s footsteps and worked as capos in the Colombo Crime Family. Alphonse Persico passed away in 1989.

Carmine’s father provided his children with a good and comfortable life. However, that did not stop his children from indulging in illegal activities.

At the age of 16, Carmine dropped out of high school to become the leader of a Brooklyn street gang named ‘Garfield Boys.’ It has also been claimed that Carmine belonged to another group called ‘South Brooklyn Boys.’

At 17, he was arrested for brutally beating up a young man at the Prospect Park in Brooklyn. He was later released as the charges were dropped.

His brawl with the youth was noticed by a local mobster named Frank Abbatemarco, who worked for the Profaci crime family. Thereafter, Carmine started working for the Profaci crime family, and eventually embraced the lifestyle of criminals.

He started off with petty crimes, such as loan-sharking, burglary, and hijackings. He was arrested on 12 occasions during the tenure of his first job.

Apart from working for the Profaci family, Carmine started working along with the Gallo brothers as well. He was first introduced to Joe Gallo and the two were later joined by Joe’s brothers, Albert and Lawrence.

In 1957, Carmine was involved in the murder of Albert Anastasia. Anastasia was the boss of the Anastasia crime family. His murder was plotted by his underboss, Carlo Gambino, who wanted to take over from Albert Anastasia.

Carlo sought the help of Joe Profaci and Vito Genovese, bosses of the Profaci family and Genovese family respectively. When Carlo, Joe and Vito decided to get rid of Albert Anastasia, Joe gave the assignment to Carmine and Gallo brothers.

On 25th October 1957, Albert Anastasia was shot dead by two masked men, in a barber shop. The shooting stopped only after Anastasia’s lifeless body fell on the floor. Interestingly, nobody was accused or charged of Anastasia’s murder.