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John DeRoss


John J. DeRoss (July 17, 1937 ), also known as "Jackie" or "Jackie Zambooka", is a former underboss in the Colombo crime family.

John DeRoss is the father of Colombo family mobsters Jack J. DeRoss and Jamie T. DeRoss. He is an uncle to Carmine "Skippy" DeRoss and to Alphonse Persico which would make him a brother-in-law to Carmine Persico.

After the 1971 assassination attempt on boss Joseph "Joe" Colombo, capo Carmine Persico became boss and promoted DeRoss to caporegime. Throughout the 1970s, DeRoss would develop racketeering, loansharking, money laundering, extortion and narcotics operations. In 1983, Local 100 of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union was established in New York. Soon after this, the Colombo family used its influence to elect DeRoss as Local president. DeRoss used his position for the next 15 years to extort money from legitimate businesses that dealt with the local.

Toward the mid 1980s, US authorities recognized DeRoss as acting underboss for Carmine Persico, as many Colombo family members went on trial and were imprisoned. In October 1984, DeRoss and Carmine Persico were indicted on racketeering charges involving several restaurants and construction companies. DeRoss was convicted and sentenced to 12 years.

Toward his release in the mid 1990s, the Colombo family entered a huge battle for the power of leadership in the family. The current acting boss Victor Orena demanded complete power over the family from Carmine Persico and the two factions went to war during the early 1990s. The Persico faction claimed victory in 1993, and with half the family on trial, DeRoss would be released in the late 1990s, just as he was arrested and prosecuted again for racketeering and loansharking charges, but was acquitted due to lack of evidence. However, his former union cooperator, Chickie Amodeo, had been banned from all contact with union officials, and imprisoned again in 1994. Upon DeRoss' release, many Colombo members were imprisoned and demoted by Persico, as they chose to support Orena in his failed attempt to overthrow Persico. In 1990, DeRoss was promoted to the rank of underboss in the Colombo crime family, and chosen as the top aide by Persico's son and then current family acting boss, Alphonse Persico, in 1999.


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