Colombo Crime Family Captain Vincent Ricciardo sentenced to four years in prison for extortion and other schemes

Colombo Crime Family captain Vincent Ricciardo, of Franklin Square, was sentenced to 51 months in prison on Feb. 28 for extorting and attempting to siphon funds from a Queens-based labor union.

U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez sentenced Ricciardo, 77, also known as “Vinny Unions.” The court also ordered Ricciardo to pay $350,000 in forfeiture and $280,890 in restitution for his involvement in the long-running extortion of a senior official of the labor union and other criminal schemes he carried out as captain of the Colombo crime family of La Cosa Nostra, which is commonly known as the Mafia.

Ricciardo pleaded guilty to racketeering in July 2023 and admitted to his participation in the extortion as well as various conspiracies to commit money laundering, loansharking and fraud in connection with workplace safety certificates, according to federal prosecutors. He is the 10th defendant to be sentenced in the case regarding extortion of the labor union and other schemes.

“This prosecution represents our continued commitment to combatting organized crime and prosecuting the individuals who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of hardworking union members and their employers,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a news release on Feb. 28. “Today’s sentence holds Vincent Ricciardo accountable for his long-running extortion scheme, as well as for his years-long participation in the wide range of crimes committed by the Colombo crime family.”

According to federal prosecutors, Ricciardo and members of the crime family’s administration allegedly agreed to use extortionate means, including threats of bodily harm, to force the senior union official to give over a portion of his salary and make decisions that would financially benefit the crime family.

This included applying pressure to force the trustees of the labor union’s associated health care benefit fund to select vendors who were associated with the crime family. The crime family’s administration allegedly sought to divert more than $10,000 per month from the health fund’s assets to themselves.

Prosecutors also said that Ricciardo allegedly threatened to kill the senior union official in a consensually recorded conversation. In the conversation, Ricciardo said that the senior union official would continue to obey him because he knew Ricciardo would “put him in the ground right in front of his wife and kids, right in front of his (expletive) house,” and he continued with a profanity-laced tirade about not being afraid of going to prison and said he would shoot the union official in front of his family.

Ricciardo also allegedly worked with Bonanno crime family soldier John Ragano, 61, also from Franklin Square, known as “Bazoo” and the “Maniac,” in a scheme issuing fraudulent workplace safety training certifications from two occupational safety schools that Ragano allegedly operated on Long Island.

Prosecutors said that Ragano, John Glover, 64, of Queens, and Domenick Ricciardo, 57, another Franklin Square resident, allegedly falsified paperwork for hundreds of workers submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies, representing that they had competed construction safety training courses when they had not. Vincent Ricciardo had allegedly plotted to funnel union workers to Ragano’s schools and used the facilities to conduct meetings involving members of La Cosa Nostra.

Domenick Ricciardo pleaded guilty to racketeering in December 2022 and was sentenced in June of last year to 28 months in prison, forfeiture of $25,000 and $280,890 restitution. Ragano pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with a means of identification in November 2022 and was sentenced in April of last year to 57 months in prison and forfeiture of $500,000. Glover faces up to 15 years in prison.

Several other alleged members of the crime family were previously sentenced for various felony charges regarding the money laundering scheme from healthcare benefit fund contracts.

Colombo crime family captain Theodore Persico Jr.,59, of Brooklyn—who the government alleged would be the family’s next crime boss—pled guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to 60 months in prison and $280,890 restitution.

Underboss Benjamin “Benji” Castellazzo, 85, from Manahawkin, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Ralph DiMatteo, 68 of Merrick, pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to 36 months in prison and $280,890 restitution Michael Uvino, 57, of Garden City, pleaded guilty to racketeering and was sentenced to 41 months in prison, forfeiture of $66,000 and $280,890 restitution.

Alleged Colombo crime family captain Richard Ferrara, 61, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to racketeering and awaits sentencing.

Albert Alimena, 69, of Pompano Beach, Florida, and Joseph Bellantoni, 41, of Massapequa, pleaded guilty to health care fraud conspiracy and received two years’ probation and fines of $20,000 each. Erin Thompkins, 55, of Franklin Square, pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud conspiracy and faces up to 10 years in prison.