Mother of Colombo family prince begs judge for leniency

Mother of Colombo family prince begs judge for leniency

  October 17, 2016    Dapper_Don

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Reputed mafia prince Michael Persico has enlisted his 80-year-old mother to beg a federal judge not to send her son to prison.

“I am getting older and need my son around,” Joyce Persico wrote to Brooklyn Federal Judge Dora Irizarry.

“He helps me with everything. I am scared that if he is sent to prison I will never see him again outside of that place.”

The matriarch of the mobbed-up clan has seen a lot of family members go off to prison. Her husband, Carmine "The Snake" Persico, 83, the boss of the Colombo crime family, was convicted in 1987 in the so-called Commission trial and is serving a 100-year sentence for racketeering and murder.

Her son Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico, 62, is serving a life sentence for murder. A third son, Lawrence, 61, did time for a no-show union job, but is out now and was recently employed as a pizza deliveryman in Brooklyn.

Joyce Persico's letter was part of an 88-page filing of letters to Judge Irizarry from friends, family members, and business associates of Michael Persico.

Michael Persico, 60, pleaded guilty to loansharking more than four years ago — it was his first felony conviction — and will finally be sentenced on Nov. 2.

Federal prosecutors say he is a powerful associate in the crime family and participated in the 1993 conspiracy to kill Colombo rival Joseph Scopo during the Colombo civil war, but Perscio was never charged with Scopo’s murder.

The judge is not bound by a plea agreement for Persico in which the sentencing guidelines were 37 to 46 months in prison.

Irizarry could slam Persico with up to five years in prison if she takes into account the uncharged Scopo murder.

Joyce's husband, Carmine "The Snake" Persico, the boss of the Colombo crime family, was convicted in 1987.

Joyce Persico’s letter was buried on page 68 of an 88-page filing of letters to Irizarry from friends, family members, and business associates of Michael Persico filed last week in Brooklyn Federal Court.

“Throughout his life, Michael has been a loving son to me and our family and a doting father to all his children,” she wrote.

A sentencing memorandum from Michael’s lawyers states that Joyce Persico suffers from emphysema and severe rheumatoid arthritis.

“It is clear from these letters that Mr. Persico has always endeavored to conduct himself in a law-abiding manner and has struggled to overcome the infamy of his last name and blood relations,” his lawyers told the judge.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/exclusive-nyc-mobster-runs-mom-prison-article-1.2833044