The ex-boss of a major New York crime gang has died, after serving 33 of a 139-year prison sentence, BBC News reported.
According to Carmine Persico’s, he died of complications arising from diabetes. He leaves a wife, two children and 15 grandchildren.
The 85-year-old was known as The Snake. He is thought to have continued running his criminal organization from behind bars, making his one of the longest-running mob leaderships in history.
Persico was born in Brooklyn in 1933, the son of a law firm stenographer. Before his teens were over, he had been arrested for murder.
A high school dropout, he became the leader of a street gang and was 17 when he was arrested for the fatal beating of another young man in a park fight. The charges were dropped.
