the peak of his abilities." He believed Persico would have potentially had a long reign ahead of him had he not been taken off the streets. By comparison, the other bosses were in their 70s, and would have likely passed the reins to men of Persico's generation even without the trial intervening. Persico was sent to United States Penitentiary near Marion, Illinois, to serve his combined 139-year sentence. By 2017, Persico was in the medium-security Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina. The facility has medical facilities for elderly inmates. Press reports indicated he had become friends with convicted fraudster Bernie Madoff. Revenge In June 1987, Persico ordered acting boss Joel Cacace to kill lawyer William Aronwald, a retired prosecutor who had allegedly been disrespectful to the Mafia. Cacace delegated the job to two hitmen who mistakenly killed Aronwald's father George. In response to outrage from the other New York families, Cacace recruited two more gunmen to kill the first hit team. After those murders were accomplished, Cacace killed the second set of gunmen. In 2004, Cacace would plead guilty to the Aronwald murder. No charges were filed against Persico. Brooklyn rivalry Persico realized that he would likely die in prison, and would thus never be able to resume active control of the family. He was, however, determined to ensure that his cut of the Colombo rackets continued to flow to his relatives. To that end, soon after he was sentenced, he named his brother, Allie Boy, as acting boss. Allie Boy did not reign long, however; he was arrested for loansharking and averted bail. Persico then named a three-man ruling panel to run the family. In 1988, he dissolved the panel and named Victor "Little Vic" Orena, a loyal capo from Brooklyn, as temporary acting boss. While giving Orena the power to induct members and order murders on his own authority—unusual for an acting boss—Persico made it clear that Orena was merely a placeholder until Persico's son, Little Allie Boy, was released from prison. Indeed, Persico picked Orena in part because he was the capo of Little Allie Boy's old crew. Knowing that Little Allie Boy would be 40 years old by the time he was paroled, Perisco wanted to ensure that his son would be able to inherit the family's riches as soon as he was released. In 1990, the government transferred Persico to what was then the