Colombo consigliere ducks nab, takes off
Son taunts feds after wiseguy goes to Fla., then vanishes
The newly indicted consigliere of the Colombo family is getting along just swimmingly.
Fugitive mobster Ralph DiMatteo was on the run from the feds on Wednesday — and his son posted a taunting Twitter picture of his shirtless wiseguy dad waist-deep in a pool.
DiMatteo, 66, was the only member of the Colombos indicted Tuesday to evade arrest after he traveled to Florida the day before. On Tuesday, his arrest was expected imminently — but by Wednesday, he was in the wind, the feds said.
“We consider him now to be a fugitive,” said John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn.
DiMatteo’s son, Angelo DiMatteo, updated his Twitter profile picture Wednesday to a photo of his barrel-chested father leaning back in a swimming pool with his wife lying behind him.
It’s not clear if the shot was taken before or after the indictment was filed.
Angelo also posted a rat emoji to his Twitter account on
Tuesday, suggesting someone in the Colombo family gabbed to the feds.
DiMatteo senior’s attorney, Mathew Mari, was in contact with the feds about a possible surrender Tuesday, but talks fell apart, a source familiar with the matter told the Daily News.
Federal investigators captured DiMatteo speaking on government recordings about mob family business, including one where he offered a menacing job description.
“That’s what I do for a living, I get people like you and I scare them,” he explained in a recorded phone call.
DiMatteo, known as “No. 3” by other members of the Colombo clan in deference to his rank in the family hierarchy, was hit along with 87-year-old boss Andrew Russo on charges of racketeering, including acts of extortion and money laundering.
He was also charged with conspiracy to steal and embezzle health benefit funds, attempted health care fraud and other charges as the feds took down the family’s entire hierarchy.
His co-defendants include underboss Benjamin (The Claw) Castellazzo and four capos — including the nephew of the crime family namesake Carmine (Junior) Persico.
Feds said the wiretaps illustrated his control over lower-ranking crime family members, with DiMatteo heard summoning his underlings immediately to meetings at Russo’s home or to report to “Brooklyn” — a reference to meet at a garage in Gravesend.
DiMatteo’s rap sheet includes a 1985 conviction for conspiracy to distribute heroin and drug trafficking offenses that got him an eight-year prison sentence.
In 2001, he was convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which got him an 18-month sentence.