Alphonse Persico

Joseph Alphonse, known as Little Allie Boy or just Allie Boy, is a former acting boss of the Colombo crime family from the 1980s and 1990s. He is not to be confused with his uncle of the same name, who was also a Colombo family mobster known as "Allie Boy", who died in 1989.

Born in New York, Alponse T. Persico grew up in South Brooklyn and Bensonhurst.

Persico's father is Carmine Persico, the imprisoned official boss of the Colombo family. Alphonse Persico has two brothers, Lawrence and Michael Persico. He was nicknamed "Little Allie Boy" to distinguish him from his father's older brother, who was also named Alphonse and was a caporegime (captain) in the Colombo family. Alphonse Persico was married to Teresa Persico.

Unlike some mafiosi, the young Alphonse Persico was a promising student who graduated from high school and was accepted into college. At St. John's University in New York, Persico contemplated going to law school. Instead, he quit St. John's after his sophomore year, presumably to work for his father. By his early 20s, Persico was a soldier in his father's family, and by his mid-20s, Persico was reportedly a capo. Like many other mafiosi, Persico enjoyed the power and excitement of the mob life. In 1983, Persico was arrested for heroin possession, but the case was dismissed.

In 1987, Carmine Persico was sentenced to a combined 139 years in prison after being convicted in two separate trials—the Mafia Commission Trial and a separate racketeering trial involving the Colombo family's operations. Realizing that he would almost certainly die in prison, Persico was nonetheless determined to keep control of the family. To that end, he designated his brother, the original "Allie Boy," as acting boss. Less than a year later, the older Alphonse was slapped with federal loan-sharking charges, and skipped out on a $250,000 bail. Logically, Carmine Persico would have selected his son, Little Allie Boy, as acting boss. However, Alphonse had also been convicted in the "Colombo Trial" and sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. The sentencing judge, John F. Keenan, urged Alphonse to renounce his life of crime, pointing out that he would still be fairly young once he got out of prison. "You are a chump if you stay in the Colombo family," Keenan said.

...
Wikipedia