MAIN PROFACI LOYALISTS - Joseph Profaci, Joseph "Joe C" Colombo, Giuseppe Magliocco, Carmine "the Snake" Persico, Jr., Hugh "Apples" McIntosh

MAIN GALLO SUPPORTERS - Joseph "Crazy Joe" Gallo, Larry Gallo, Albert "Kid Blast" Gallo
THE WAR:
The first Colombo family war was between the boss Joe Profaci and the younger members. Many members of the Profaci crime family(as it was called back then) absolutely dispised Joseph Profaci. So, it was only likely that sooner or later someone would try to take him out of that leadership role of being a "godfather". Those men were the three Gallo brothers, Crazy Joey, Albert, and Larry with their crew.

Profaci, was seen by his men as an old-type of Mustache Pete, along with the tax of every criminal racket the men of his family completed, they also had to pay a tax on crimes that they persude but were not able to committ, as well as a $25 a month "membership fee" of being a part of the Profaci Crime Family. Old Man Joe was not one for war, he had kept his small family in tact through the Castallamaresse War, by not siding with either side. Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano fought it out between one another, Masseria was eliminated, but then just months later Maranzano joined him, along with alot of other old-world Sicilian bosses, on the wishes of people like Lucky Luciano, Carlo Gambino, Gaetano Gagliano, Thomas Lucchese, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese.

But, Profaci made one huge mistake, he aligned himself with Joe Bonanno, the patriarch of the Bonanno Crime Family, in a plot to rub-out the bosses of the Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese families and take over all of New York's Cosa Nostra. Because of this the Commission no longer cared what happened to Profaci, and this is when the Gallo Brothers saw their opportunity.

The Gallo brothers - Lawrence, Albert, and Joey - along with their crew from the Red Hook section of Brooklyn had been dissatisfied with Profaci's leadership for some time. They scratched out a living with their rackets, but because Profaci always took a big chunk of their profits, they felt that they weren't getting ahead. They were particularly bitter about the Profaci-ordered execution of fellow crew-member Frank "Frankie Shots" Abbatemarco. Profaci felt that Frankie Shots, a "numbers banker," had become disloyal and disrespectful in withholding tribute to the boss. The Gallos didn't dispute the charge, but felt that the punishment far outweighed the gravity of the crime.

By February 1961, the Gallo crew had finally had enough. In a bold move, they kidnapped several prominent members of the family, including longtime underboss Joseph Magliocco and capo Joe Colombo. The Gallos then sent word to Profaci that they wanted some changes made in the way profits were divvied up. Profaci sent his consigliere Charles "The Sidge" Locicero to negotiate with them. After weeks of negotiations, the two sides came to an agreement, and the hostages were released. Everyone was apparently happy with the outcome.

But six months later, Profaci retaliated. One of the hostages, soldier John Scimone, lured Larry Gallo to a bar in Brooklyn, where two thugs threw a rope around his neck and started to choke him. They threatened to kill him if he didn't call his brothers and tell them to come to the bar. Larry Gallo knew he and his brothers would all be dead if he did that, so he refused to cooperate. The rope was pulled tighter, and Gallo would have been a goner if a policeman hadn't suddenly walked in. The front door of the bar had been left ajar, and because it was a Sunday, and "blue" laws demanded that all commercial establishments close shop on Sundays, the cop came in to investigate. Scimone and his thugs ran for the door. The cop's partner tried to stop them, but one of the hoods shot him in the face. They escaped in a waiting Cadillac.

The Gallos then learned that Profaci's men had killed their chief enforcer, Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioelli, a few days earlier. The Gallo crew lashed out, taking potshots at Profaci loyalists wherever they found them. The police raided the Gallo crew's headquarters in Brooklyn, hoping to head off an all-out war within the family. The violence subsided, but the bitterness festered.

In 1962, Profaci succumbed to cancer, which ment it was time for a new boss. Giuseppe Magliocco, long-time Underboss, and one of Profaci's biggest allies during the internal family war became the new boss. The Gallo Brothers still were not happy and decided to keep the war going, this time, against Magliocco.

Joe Magliocco must have had days when he regretted taking over as boss of Profaci's family. The Gallo crew still wasn't happy, and they came at him with a vengeance, determined to bring him down. Hoping to weaken Magliocco's hold on the family, they targeted his strongest men, particularly the fierce Carmine "Junior" Persico. Persico's car was bombed in 1963, but he escaped with only minor injuries. On May 19 of that year, he was shot in the face, hand, and shoulder, according to mob expert Jerry Capeci, in a drive-by shooting orchestrated by the Gallos. Persico was reportedly so tough he spat out one of the bullets that entered his face. In another incident, Persico's chief enforcer, Hugh McIntosh, a giant of a man who wore a size 52 suit, was ambushed and shot but managed to survive.

But the Gallo revolt came to an abrupt halt in the fall of 1963, when two key crew members were murdered and seventeen others were indicted on a variety of racketeering charges. With Joey Gallo already almost two years into a lengthy prison sentence, the Gallo crew just didn't have the manpower to keep the fight going.

The Hits in the War Included:
1. Frank "Frankie Shots" Abbatemarco - Murdered, Gallo Crew
2. Giuseppe Magliocco - Kidnapped, Profaci Crew
3. Joseph Colombo - Kidnapped, Profaci Crew
4. John Scimone - Kindapped, Profaci Crew 5. Lawrence "Larry" Gallo - Choked by a rope, survived, Gallo crew
6. Police Officer(Name Unknown) - Murdered, tried to stop the attmepted rubout of Lawrence Gallo
7. Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioelli - Murdered, Gallo Crew
8. After the murder of Gioelli, the Gallo Crew took potshots at a number of Profaci Supporters
9. Joe Profaci - Succumbed to cancer, Profaci Crew, Magliocco would take over, the Gallo Crew continued to wage their war
10. Carmine "Junior" Persico, Jr. - Car bombed, escaped with minor injuries, Magliocco Crew
11. Carmine "Junior" Persico, Jr. - Shot in hand, shoulder and face, survived, Magliocco Crew
12. Hugh "Apples" McIntosh - Ambushed and Shot, survived, Magliocco Crew
13. Two Other Gallo Supporters Murder, 17 Indicted

WINNER:The Maggliocco/Profaci Camp.

FAMILY BOSS HISTORY
  • Giuseppe "Joe the Old Man" Profaci(1926-1962) - Died
  • Giuseppe "Fat Joey" Magliocco(1962-1963) - Retired
  • Joseph "Joe C" Colombo(1963-1971) - Retired
  • Carmine Persico, Jr.(1971-Present) - Imprisoned
  • Thomas "the Old Man" DiBella(1973-1978) - Resigned
  • Alphonse "Allie Boy" Persico(1981-1984) - Imprisoned
  • Gennaro "Gerry Lang" Langella(1984-1987) - Imprisoned
  • Victor "Little Vic" Orena(1987-1992) - Imprisoned
  • Andrew "Mushy" Russo(1992-1999) - Imprisoned
  • Alphonse "Little Allie Boy" Persico, Jr.(1999-2000) - Imprisoned
  • Joel "Joe Waverly" Cacace(2000-2004) - Imprisoned
  • Thomas "Tommy Shots" Gioeli(2004-Present) - N/A

    **If bold type they were the official boss, if italicized type they were the acting boss!


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