 Welcome into the original gangsters podcast. I'm Scott Bernstein, another quick hitter edition breaking news out of New York City, former Colombo crime family acting boss Ralph DeLeo has been released from prison after doing about 15 years. The story of Ralph DeLeo is quite unique. And I'll give you the quick Ralph DeLeo 101 in and hopefully three, four minutes. DeLeo was the front boss for the persicos in the late 2000s from about the summer of 2008 until around Christmas 2009. What's most interesting about it was that he was a Boston guy that on paper at least was running the Colombo crime family, which was in, you know, the persicos are out of Brooklyn from Somerville, Massachusetts, right outside of Boston. He originally was a patriarchal crime family associate back in the 60s and 70s came up under the Anjulo brothers was very close to Jerry Anjulo, the underboss of the patriarchals. Ralph DeLeo then was a bank robber, a loan shark, kind of a cowboy. And he went to prison for a murder that he committed while on the lamb in Ohio. He had escaped from prison in in Boston. He was doing a sentence. For bank robbery escaped, made his way to Ohio where he was hooked up with a cellmate that had a farm in Ohio, a doctor that was doing some prison time in Massachusetts. And when he's on the lamb in the 1970s, he meets another doctor through this doctor that was hiding him in Columbus, Ohio, who has a beef with yet another doctor that was allegedly had drugged and raped this doctor's wife. One doctor drugged and raped another doctor's wife, two separate doctors from the doctor that he was staying with on the farm. And Ralph DeLeo murdered a doctor by the name of Walter Bond, Halloween 1977. Bond was accused of drugging and raping another physician's wife. DeLeo ends up getting caught trying to rob a bank in Columbus in spring of 78 and flips helps the government with the bond homicide investigation, as well as debrief for the FBI, Boston office, giving them what he knows about the patriarch is an endulo. Back then, you know, it was different, you know, there wasn't 24 seven news coverage. There wasn't the internet. Anyway, this cooperation that DeLeo gives goes under the radar is kind of unintentionally buried, you know, not buried in the sense that somebody was covering it up, but that it just it slipped through the cracks. And because of the fact that his he worried that going to a Massachusetts state prison or Ohio State Prison would put in put his life in danger, he convinces the government after his cooperation deal is cut to go into the federal system. And within the federal system, he meets some pretty powerful New York LCN figures, including Colombo mob prints, Alfon's little alley boy, Perceco, who's along with his father, Carmine Perceco, the head of that dynasty ran the ran the Colombo's for four, four to five decades, died in prison a couple years ago, alley boys probably to die in prison as well. But the Perceco still, you know, they they are in full control of that crime family still 50 or almost 50 years later. And over the years, they've needed loyalists to to, you know, front things on their behalf. So from meeting alley boy, DeLeo gets out of prison. Still nobody knows about what happened back in Ohio in the 70s, and the faculty debrief with the Boston guys. And he gets made into the Colombo's in the summer of 2000, sets up a satellite crew in Somerville, Massachusetts, got activities going on in New York in Boston, in Connecticut, Florida, Arkansas, he's got a state out in Arkansas, where he's moving dope. And then by 2008, they, you know, the Tommy shots goes to gets locked up, he'd been running, running things on the street. For the Perceco's Tommy Gioli just got out of prison as well recently. And they need a guide to step in and they tapped DeLeo. DeLeo is merely a figurehead. He really has no idea what's going on in terms of decision making. But he's put out there as the acting boss for about 18 months. And within a couple months, they get a wire up on him related to another investigation that dovetails and then eventually comes together with the investigation into the Colombo's. But he's he's talking to a sister, and he's he's telling her kind of the ins and outs of when he has to go to New York, and preside over he presided over making ceremony, he gets introduced around. And it was a real whirlwind for him, he would he would come home or go to his hotel room and call his sister and kind of decompress and vent about how there's all these people making such a big deal about him and drawing attention to him. Because everybody's got to come up and kiss him on the cheek and kind of kiss the ring. And he was a total unknown factor. Nobody in New York knew him. He didn't know anybody in New York outside of Alley Boy. And he was also connected into a wing of the Gambino's through Ernie Boy Abamanti. But you know, Delio, it's it's a very, like I say, very unique. It was a unicorn of a situation, a small slice of New York LCN history, where you had a Boston guy, ostensibly running the Colombo crime family on a day to day basis for about a year and a half. But since he got locked up, it was revealed that he had been an informant back in the 1970s. And he's on the shelf right now. I wouldn't think that he's in any danger, per se. He didn't give up anybody that's alive right now or active. But you know, it isn't coming back into any role within the Colombos. But he had a halfway house about a week ago in New York City. He's 80 years old, will live out his final years in mob retirement, forced mob retirement. But interesting story, Ralph Delio out of prison after 15 years stint had ran the Colombo crime family throughout 2008 and 2009. I will be back with more breaking news. Always here on the original gangsters podcast, YouTube channel, Benny behind the glass, always producing me VIP status for for Benny 24 seven. He's the guy. And thank you so much, Benny. We'll be back next time. Scott Bernstein, OG