05.17.05 -
Quiz Capo Timing of Attorney
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Reputed Colombo crime boss Alphonse (Allie Boy) Persico was sitting in his
lawyer's office on the afternoon that a rival gangster was allegedly murdered
on his orders, his attorney testified yesterday.
Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Persico's former mouthpiece Barry Levin to
explain how his client happened to schedule the meeting on May 26, 1999 - at
the precise time Colombo underboss William (Wild Bill) Cutolo vanished in
Brooklyn.
Levin, testifying with immunity from prosecution, said Persico called about
9:20 p.m. on May 25 to make an appointment for the following day to discuss a
pending case.
The defense lawyer turned over a copy of his daily calendar to the feds, and
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Seigel showed the jury that the notations for
the meeting appeared to be written in two different inks.
"You certainly wouldn't come in here and lie for Mr. Persico?"
defense lawyer Sarita Kedia asked Levin.
Federal Judge Sterling Johnson ordered Levin not to answer the question even
though the prosecutor had not objected.
Levin also acknowledged hiring a private eye to question Cutolo's family
because the feds had made no secret that Persico was a suspect in his
disappearance. Colombo gangster John (Jackie) DeRoss met with the family
members before the investigator arrived and allegedly tried to intimidate them.
DeRoss is also charged with Cutolo's murder.
- John Marzulli: New York Daily News
Staff Writer
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