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The Colombo crime family (, Italian pronunciation: [koˈlombo]) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and is the youngest of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City within the criminal organization known as the American Mafia. It was during Lucky Luciano's organization of the American Mafia after the Castellammarese War, following the assassinations of "Joe the Boss" Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano, that the gang run by Joseph Profaci became recognized as the Profaci crime family. The family traces its roots to a bootlegging gang formed by Profaci in 1928. Profaci would rule his family without interruption or challenge until the late 1950s. The family has been torn by three internal wars. The first war took place during the late 1950s, when caporegime Joe Gallo revolted against Profaci, but that conflict lost momentum in the early 1960s when Gallo was arrested and Profaci died of cancer. The family was reunited in the early 1960s under Joseph Colombo. In 1971, the second family war began after Gallo's release from prison and the shooting of Colombo. Colombo supporters led by Carmine Persico won the second war after the exiling of the remaining Gallo crew to the Genovese family in 1975. The family would then enjoy over 15 years of peace under Persico and his string of acting bosses. In 1991, the third and bloodiest war erupted when acting boss Victor Orena tried to seize power from the imprisoned Persico. The family split into factions loyal to Orena and to Persico, and two years of mayhem ensued. It ended in 1993, with 12 members of the family dead and Orena imprisoned, leaving Persico the winner. Left with a family decimated by war, Persico continued to run the family until his death in prison in 2019, but it has never recovered. In the 2000s, the family was further weakened by multiple convictions in federal racketeering cases and numerous members becoming government witnesses. Many law enforcement agencies believe the Colombo crime family to be the weakest of the Five Families of New York City as of 2011. History Origins In September 1921, Joseph Profaci arrived in New York City from Villabate, Sicily, Italy. After struggling in Chicago with his businesses, Profaci moved back to Brooklyn in 1925 and became a well-known olive oil importer. On September 27, Profaci obtained his American citizenship. With his olive-oil-importing business doing well, Profaci made deals with friends from his old town in Sicily, and one of his largest buyers was Tampa mobster Ignazio Italiano. Profaci controlled a small criminal gang that operated mainly in Brooklyn. The dominant Cosa Nostra groups in Brooklyn were led by Frankie Yale, Giuseppe Masseria, Nicolo Schirò and capo di tutti capi Salvatore "Toto" D'Aquila. On July 1, 1928, Yale was murdered by Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone's hit-men. Capone murdered Yale because Yale refused to give Capone, a Neapolitan, control over the Unione Siciliana fraternal association. Yale's murder allowed Profaci and his brother in-law Joseph Magliocco to gain territory for their small gang, including territory in Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, while the rest of Yale's group went to the Masseria family. On October 10, 1928, D'Aquila was murdered, resulting in a fight for D'Aquila's territory. To prevent a gang war in Brooklyn, a Mafia meeting was called on December 5, 1928, at the Statler Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. The site was chosen because it was neutral territory outside New York under Porrello crime family control and protection. The main topic was dividing D'Aquila's territory. Attendees representing Brooklyn included Profaci, Magliocco, Vincent Mangano (who reported to D'Aquila family boss Manfredi Mineo), Joseph Bonanno (who represented Salvatore Maranzano and the Castellammarese Clan), Chicago mobsters Joseph Guinta and Pasquale Lolordo, and Tampa mobster Ignazio Italiano. At the end of the meeting, Profaci received a share of D'Aquila's Brooklyn territory, with Magliocco as his second-in-command. The Castellammarese War Months after the D'Aquila murder, Joe Masseria began a campaign to become capo di tutti capi ('boss of bosses') in the United States, demanding tribute from the remaining three Mafia groups in New York City, which included the Reina family, the Castellammarese Clan and the Profaci family. Castellammarese Clan boss Salvatore Maranzano began his own campaign to become 'boss of bosses', which started the Castellammarese War. Masseria, along with his ally Alfred Manfredi, the new boss of the D'Aquila family ordered the murder of Gaetano Reina. Masseria believed that Reina was going to support Maranzano in his fight to become the new 'boss of bosses'. On February 26, 1930, Gaetano Reina was murdered and Masseria appointed Joseph Pinzolo as the new boss of the Reina family. During the war Profaci remained neutral, while he secretly supported Maranzano. The Castellammarese War ended when Charles "Lucky" Luciano, a Masseria lieutenant, betrayed him to Maranzano by setting up the murder of Masseria on April 15, 1931. Maranzano then declared himself the new capo di tutti capi in the United States. Within a few months, Maranzano and Luciano were plotting to kill each other. On September 10, 1931, Luciano had Maranzano killed. Rather than claim the title of capo di tutti capi, Luciano instead created the Mafia Commission. Now there would be five independent Cosa Nostra families in New York City and twenty one additional families across the United States that were regulated by a supreme Commission in New York. Profaci and Magliocco were confirmed as boss and underboss, respectively, of what was now known as the Profaci crime family. First Family War (1960–1963) Joseph Profaci had become a wealthy Mafia boss and was known as "the olive-oil and tomato paste king of America". One of Profaci's most unpopular demands was a $25 monthly tribute from every soldier in his family. In the late 1950s, capo Frank "Frankie Shots" Abbatemarco became a problem for Joe Profaci. Abbatemarco controlled a lucrative policy game that earned him nearly $2.5 million a year with an average of $7,000 a day in Red Hook, Brooklyn. In early 1959, Abbatemarco, with the support of Gallo brothers and the Garfield Boys, began refusing to pay tribute to Profaci. By late 1959, Abbatemarco's debt had grown to $50,000 and Profaci allegedly ordered Joe Gallo to murder Abbatemarco. However, other versions of the story indicate that Gallo played no part in this murder. In return for Abbatemarco's murder, Profaci allegedly agreed to give the Gallos control over Abbatemarco's policy game. On November 4, 1959, Frank Abbatemarco walked out of his cousin's bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn and was shot and killed by Joseph Gioielli and another hitman. Profaci then ordered the Gallos to hand over Abbatemaro's son Anthony. The Gallos refused and Profaci refused to give them the policy game. This was the start of .... Discover the Colombo Publishing Company popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Colombo Publishing Company books.