July 11, 2025 • 8 mins
Dive into the rise and fall of Alphonse “Little Allie Boy” Persico—acting boss of the Colombo crime family. From his Mafia upbringing to the brutal civil war, and ultimately a life sentence for murder, this is a gripping tale of loyalty, legacy, and law enforcement's relentless pursuit of justice.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the deep dive. Today we're stepping into well,
a pretty shadowy world organized crime legacies.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, it's fascinating stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Imagine inheriting not just a name, but immense power, huge problems,
and ultimately, as we'll see, a pretty dramatic downfall. Definitely,
our main focus today is Alphont's Little Alley Boy Persico.
His name is tied directly to the Colombo crime family,
one of New York's Big five.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Families, right, a major player.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And our mission, using excerpts from Little Ali Boy a
Mafia Legacies downfall, is to sort of untack this mafia dynasty.
We want to explore how this guy basically born into
mafia royalty navigated it. All the ambition, the betrayal, the
constant pressure. It's really about understanding the rise and then
that fateful turn that kind of marked the end of
(00:50):
an era for them. So let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It really is striking when you start reading about Alphonse Persico,
you're immediately hit with this sense that his path was
almost like laid out for him. He was born in
February eighth, nineteen fifty four, Brookly, New York. Just you know,
another kid on the surface but his background was different.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Absolutely. His pedigree, as the source says, basically made him
mafia royalty exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
His father was Carmine the Snake Persico.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
The longtime boss of the Columbo family notorious.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Right, And it wasn't just who his dad was. He
got the nickname Little Alley Boy, apparently to tell him
apart from an older relative. But it was clear he
was being groomed.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Groomed for leadership from a young age.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah, especially with his father doing life in prison, al
Fons was seen as the heir apparent, no question about it.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You have to wonder what kind of pressure is that
inheriting a criminal enterprise.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I mean the danger of the expectations. It's immense. Yeah,
following in those footsteps in that world.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Brutal and unforgiving. Yeah, it's like you're born into the job,
whether you want it or not.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, what's really interesting about Allie Boy, what makes him
stand out, is his background wasn't typical.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
No, not the usual street thug image, right, not at all.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We learned he actually went to Saint John's University in
Queens studied law for a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Wow. So education puts the blood ties that made him.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Unique definitely described as a gangster who could speak like
a lawyer but still had the street cred.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Of a coppo a captain. Yeah, quite the combination.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
The drial contrasts, isn't it an educated guy in that
well that often brutal world. By the eighties, he's officially
in rises fast.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
And his father, Carmine is making moves.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
From prison, totally strategically putting his son in position to
take over eventually, a clear play to keep power in
the Persigo bloodline.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It shows even in these organizations there's strategy.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh yeah, lots of calculation. But as we often see,
even the best laid plans in that world, they can
backfire violently, and.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
They definitely did here the early nineties, the Columbo Civil
War just absolute chaos.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah. That was triggered when the acting boss at the time,
Victor littl vic Arena, challenged Carmine. Arena wanted full control
and Carmine's response swift. He names Alphonse acting boss, and
boom that ignites this horrible internal war.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
The source material paints a grim picture, it really does.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Ninety one to ninety three streets of Brooklyn ran red
with blood, not just a phrase.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Shootings all the time, over a dozen killed, and the.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
FBI is just watching this family basically tear itself apart
in public.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Incredible. And Alphonse, even though he was young, maybe not
directly pulling every trigger.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, but he was the symbol, the symbol of his
father's control. It cemented his future, but also put a
huge target on him.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
The chaos, the public nature of it all, it's staggering
and the cost of loyalty in.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
That world unbelievable. So after the war, the family's decimated.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, the Feds moved in right, excluded the chaos, indictments,
flying guys flip in exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
You'd think that's the end. But then in ninety three,
Alfonse gets indicted federal racketeering murder charges, serious.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Stuff, but he beats it in ninety four, which is
pretty rare.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
A huge one for him, boosted his reputation massively in
mob circles. For a second, it probably looked like he
dodged the bullet outsmarted the Feds just a moment, though
a very brief moment. Yeah, because that illusion didn't last.
In ninety nine, he gets arrested again for what this
time illegal gun possession, which you know by mob standards
is pretty small potatoes.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Right, nothing compared to murder.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Wraps exactly, But it was the start, the beginning of
this downward spiral that just kept.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Going and even locked up, they make him acting boss again.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, which really shows how desperate things were. Leadership was fractured.
He was like a placeholder, a.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Bridge, but the Feds weren't letting go, not a chance.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Early two thousands they had him zeroed in, his name
popping up constantly, wire taps, informants, surveillance, that pull of.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
A life just wouldn't let him escape, even from prison.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
It really wouldn't. And then came the thing that sealed it,
the murder of William wild Bill.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Kuthlow Okay tell us about wild Bill? Why was his
death the final nail?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Well? Wild Bill was a heavy hitter in the Colombo family,
a powerful capo, had even been considered for Boss himself during.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
The Civil War, so a potential rival.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Even though he'd made peace with the Persicos afterwards. The
source says, he still harbored ambitions of leadership, and in
that world.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
That makes you a target.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Absolutely. He vanishes in May ninety nine. Body wasn't found
for almost ten years.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Wow. But the FBI suspected foul play immediately, Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, And they slowly, patiently built their case against Alphonse.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
What was the prosecution's theory?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Pretty chilling. They argued Carmine ordered the hit from prison,
get rid of a potential threat to his son's control.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And Alfon says acting boss.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Had to greenlight the murder and orchestrate his execution.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
That was the claim, and they made it stick.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
They did. Took until two thousand and seven, relied heavily
on cooperating witnesses, but they convicted Persico racketeering, murder in
aid of racketeering in a sent in two thousand and nine,
life in prison, no possibility.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Of parole, just like his father, Just like his father.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's a dramatic end to that whole saga, just as
catching up even with someone that powerful.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
That convention really was the turning point, wasn't it. The
Persco name, dominant.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
For so long, now associated with collapse. With both father
and sons serving life, the Columbo family was ruderless, and.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The FEDS had just dismantled the whole structure pretty much.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
It's a serious cautionary tale about these mafia dynasties. How
ambition and violence just eat them from the inside out.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So where is he now?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Usp Coleman High Security Federal Prison down in Florida, a
long long way from Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
It's strange the descriptions say he was more cautious, more
reserved than his father.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, maybe a different personality, but he ended up in
the same place, isolation, loss of control, life behind bars.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
He's like a relic now.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
A living artifact, as the source puts it, of a
criminal world that's really diminished, prosecutions informants, times changing. It's
not the same landscape.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And he wasn't just some street guy initially educated, polished,
tried to live a double life.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Maybe seems like it, but that balancing act, especially in
that world, it just rarely ends well. His conviction really
did close the book on one of the last big
mafia legacies.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It makes you think, doesn't it about paths chosen for
you and how power itself can become a prison. Absolutely so,
looking back al Franz Persico's story, it's tied into this
whole bigger picture of organized crime in America.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Definitely. It hits on so many themes, family, loyalty, the
burden of that kind.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Of legacy, the incredibly high price of power.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, and his journey from being this privileged heir to
ending up with a life sentence. Yeah. It's such a
stark reminder the sins of the father often become the
downfall of the son, especially in the mafia.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It seems it really leaves you wondering, doesn't it. When
does that loyalty to family cross the line into self destruction?
And how much ConTroll do we really have over our destiny,
especially when you're born into something like that, an empire,
criminal or not. What stands out to you about the
sheer weight of a legacy like that,
Welcome to the deep dive. Today we're stepping into well,
a pretty shadowy world organized crime legacies.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Yeah, it's fascinating stuff.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Imagine inheriting not just a name, but immense power, huge problems,
and ultimately, as we'll see, a pretty dramatic downfall. Definitely,
our main focus today is Alphont's Little Alley Boy Persico.
His name is tied directly to the Colombo crime family,
one of New York's Big five.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Families, right, a major player.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
And our mission, using excerpts from Little Ali Boy a
Mafia Legacies downfall, is to sort of untack this mafia dynasty.
We want to explore how this guy basically born into
mafia royalty navigated it. All the ambition, the betrayal, the
constant pressure. It's really about understanding the rise and then
that fateful turn that kind of marked the end of
(00:50):
an era for them. So let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It really is striking when you start reading about Alphonse Persico,
you're immediately hit with this sense that his path was
almost like laid out for him. He was born in
February eighth, nineteen fifty four, Brookly, New York. Just you know,
another kid on the surface but his background was different.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Absolutely. His pedigree, as the source says, basically made him
mafia royalty exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
His father was Carmine the Snake Persico.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
The longtime boss of the Columbo family notorious.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Right, And it wasn't just who his dad was. He
got the nickname Little Alley Boy, apparently to tell him
apart from an older relative. But it was clear he
was being groomed.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Groomed for leadership from a young age.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah, especially with his father doing life in prison, al
Fons was seen as the heir apparent, no question about it.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You have to wonder what kind of pressure is that
inheriting a criminal enterprise.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I mean the danger of the expectations. It's immense. Yeah,
following in those footsteps in that world.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Brutal and unforgiving. Yeah, it's like you're born into the job,
whether you want it or not.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, what's really interesting about Allie Boy, what makes him
stand out, is his background wasn't typical.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
No, not the usual street thug image, right, not at all.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We learned he actually went to Saint John's University in
Queens studied law for a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Wow. So education puts the blood ties that made him.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Unique definitely described as a gangster who could speak like
a lawyer but still had the street cred.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Of a coppo a captain. Yeah, quite the combination.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
The drial contrasts, isn't it an educated guy in that
well that often brutal world. By the eighties, he's officially
in rises fast.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
And his father, Carmine is making moves.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
From prison, totally strategically putting his son in position to
take over eventually, a clear play to keep power in
the Persigo bloodline.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
It shows even in these organizations there's strategy.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh yeah, lots of calculation. But as we often see,
even the best laid plans in that world, they can
backfire violently, and.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
They definitely did here the early nineties, the Columbo Civil
War just absolute chaos.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah. That was triggered when the acting boss at the time,
Victor littl vic Arena, challenged Carmine. Arena wanted full control
and Carmine's response swift. He names Alphonse acting boss, and
boom that ignites this horrible internal war.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
The source material paints a grim picture, it really does.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Ninety one to ninety three streets of Brooklyn ran red
with blood, not just a phrase.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Shootings all the time, over a dozen killed, and the.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
FBI is just watching this family basically tear itself apart
in public.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Incredible. And Alphonse, even though he was young, maybe not
directly pulling every trigger.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, but he was the symbol, the symbol of his
father's control. It cemented his future, but also put a
huge target on him.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
The chaos, the public nature of it all, it's staggering
and the cost of loyalty in.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
That world unbelievable. So after the war, the family's decimated.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, the Feds moved in right, excluded the chaos, indictments,
flying guys flip in exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
You'd think that's the end. But then in ninety three,
Alfonse gets indicted federal racketeering murder charges, serious.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Stuff, but he beats it in ninety four, which is
pretty rare.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
A huge one for him, boosted his reputation massively in
mob circles. For a second, it probably looked like he
dodged the bullet outsmarted the Feds just a moment, though
a very brief moment. Yeah, because that illusion didn't last.
In ninety nine, he gets arrested again for what this
time illegal gun possession, which you know by mob standards
is pretty small potatoes.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Right, nothing compared to murder.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Wraps exactly, But it was the start, the beginning of
this downward spiral that just kept.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Going and even locked up, they make him acting boss again.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, which really shows how desperate things were. Leadership was fractured.
He was like a placeholder, a.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Bridge, but the Feds weren't letting go, not a chance.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Early two thousands they had him zeroed in, his name
popping up constantly, wire taps, informants, surveillance, that pull of.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
A life just wouldn't let him escape, even from prison.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
It really wouldn't. And then came the thing that sealed it,
the murder of William wild Bill.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Kuthlow Okay tell us about wild Bill? Why was his
death the final nail?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Well? Wild Bill was a heavy hitter in the Colombo family,
a powerful capo, had even been considered for Boss himself during.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
The Civil War, so a potential rival.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Even though he'd made peace with the Persicos afterwards. The
source says, he still harbored ambitions of leadership, and in
that world.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
That makes you a target.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Absolutely. He vanishes in May ninety nine. Body wasn't found
for almost ten years.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Wow. But the FBI suspected foul play immediately, Oh.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, And they slowly, patiently built their case against Alphonse.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
What was the prosecution's theory?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Pretty chilling. They argued Carmine ordered the hit from prison,
get rid of a potential threat to his son's control.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
And Alfon says acting boss.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Had to greenlight the murder and orchestrate his execution.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
That was the claim, and they made it stick.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
They did. Took until two thousand and seven, relied heavily
on cooperating witnesses, but they convicted Persico racketeering, murder in
aid of racketeering in a sent in two thousand and nine,
life in prison, no possibility.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Of parole, just like his father, Just like his father.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
It's a dramatic end to that whole saga, just as
catching up even with someone that powerful.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
That convention really was the turning point, wasn't it. The
Persco name, dominant.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
For so long, now associated with collapse. With both father
and sons serving life, the Columbo family was ruderless, and.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
The FEDS had just dismantled the whole structure pretty much.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
It's a serious cautionary tale about these mafia dynasties. How
ambition and violence just eat them from the inside out.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So where is he now?
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Usp Coleman High Security Federal Prison down in Florida, a
long long way from Brooklyn.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
It's strange the descriptions say he was more cautious, more
reserved than his father.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, maybe a different personality, but he ended up in
the same place, isolation, loss of control, life behind bars.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
He's like a relic now.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
A living artifact, as the source puts it, of a
criminal world that's really diminished, prosecutions informants, times changing. It's
not the same landscape.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And he wasn't just some street guy initially educated, polished,
tried to live a double life.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Maybe seems like it, but that balancing act, especially in
that world, it just rarely ends well. His conviction really
did close the book on one of the last big
mafia legacies.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
It makes you think, doesn't it about paths chosen for
you and how power itself can become a prison. Absolutely so,
looking back al Franz Persico's story, it's tied into this
whole bigger picture of organized crime in America.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Definitely. It hits on so many themes, family, loyalty, the
burden of that kind.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Of legacy, the incredibly high price of power.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, and his journey from being this privileged heir to
ending up with a life sentence. Yeah. It's such a
stark reminder the sins of the father often become the
downfall of the son, especially in the mafia.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
It seems it really leaves you wondering, doesn't it. When
does that loyalty to family cross the line into self destruction?
And how much ConTroll do we really have over our destiny,
especially when you're born into something like that, an empire,
criminal or not. What stands out to you about the
sheer weight of a legacy like that,
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