The latest to tell his blood brothers to shove their oaths is acting Colombo boss Alphonse (Little Allie) Persico. (right)

Last week, while pleading guilty to a racketeering, loansharking and money laundering indictment that accused him of being "the acting boss of the Colombo family," Persico essentially admitted he was a high-ranking member of the Mafia.

And he was ragged about it as soon as he got back to the Metropolitan Detention Center from Brooklyn Federal Court to await his official sentencing of 13 years on June 13. Persico, 47, has been detained without bail as a danger to the community since he was indicted a year ago. 

"They said you admitted you were the boss," said one wiseguy, according

"No, just some legal mumbo jumbo," said the college educated Persico, (left) who took some pre-law courses at St. Johns University before dropping out to follow his father Carmine and uncles Alphonse and Theodore into the Colombo crime family – and federal prison. Uncle Alphonse died there in 1989 at age 59. Theodore, 64, is due out in 2013. Carmine, 68, is scheduled for release in 2043.

Little Allie, whose father and family boss waged a bloody mob war to get his son to the top of the heap, did not sign a document like Gambino soldier Anthony (Tony Pep) Trentacosta did recently, but everyone in court, and in the federal lockup, had no doubt about what Allie did.

Queried by Judge Reena Raggi about the specific racketeering enterprise he belonged to, Persico said it was the one "alleged in the indictment."

When asked point blank whether its name was the Colombo family, as the indictment said, Persico stood mute. His attorney Barry Levin replied that Persico would not respond to that question.

"You were not an errand boy?" Raggi asked in a follow-up query.  "You 

Levin declined to characterize the plea. "It is what it is," he said. "He pled guilty to avoid any more pain and suffering to himself and his family."

While Persico's plea violates Mafia rules, it is unlikely that he will suffer any serious consequences. "You can break a lot of rules today, especially when your old man is the boss," is how one law enforcement source put it.   

Persico, a key suspect in the 1999 execution of family rival William (Wild Bill) Cutolo, (right) opted

The records, handwritten documents and computer disks which include Persico's fingerprints, made his ultimate conviction "a slam dunk," said one law enforcement source.

Four Persico codefendants, including underboss John (Jackie) DeRoss (left) and former Cutolo bodyguard- chauffeur Frank (Campy) Campanella (right) are set to for trial next month but Gang Land expects them to follow Persico's lead in short order.

Cutolo's son, William Cutolo Jr., who began cooperating within days of his father's death, and Generation X gangster/Miami club king Chris Paciello are waiting in the wings to testify against them if they don't.

Today, Massino, who spent the first year of his reign in federal prison finishing a six year stretch for labor racketeering, is the only crime boss who is not in federal prison.

Carmine (Junior) Persico (right) is probably the longest reigning boss, having taken over the Colombo family in the mid-to-late 1970's after the shooting and incapacitation of Joseph Colombo, who died in 1978.  

Next in longevity is Vincent (Chin) Gigante, (left) 73, who took over the Genovese clan around 1981, after the death of Philip Lombardo. Presently serving 12 years for labor racketeering, Gigante is scheduled for release in 2007.

John Gotti, 61, was officially selected as Gambino boss a few weeks after he orchestrated the December, 1985 assassination of Paul Castellano. Gotti (right) has terminal cancer and is doing life for a 1992 murder and racketeering conviction.

Vittorio (Vic) Amuso, 67, took over the Lucheses after the 1986 conviction of Antonio (Tony Ducks) Corallo, the last Mafia boss to step down. Like Gotti, Amuso is serving life for murder and racketeering and will die in prison. Like Gotti, he has given no indication he will step down.

Your favorite book store should have it in stock. If not, tell them to order it. Or else!

The folks at Gang Land's favorite book store, Amazon.com, have knocked the price down so low – $13.26 – I am concerned that the Godfather of online booksellers has forgotten about my end.

The book encapsulates 100 years of mob history in North America. It will take you from the early 20th century, through the lucrative Prohibition era of the 1920's and the formation of the Mafia's Commission.

There is a chronology of major events that shaped the Mafia from 1890 through 2001 and a short history of the 24 families that spread out across the United States and Canada. I detail the discovery of a national meeting of mob leaders in 1957 and the passage of the famous racketeering (RICO) statutes that have cut the mob down in size and influence.

There's a chapter about turncoats and one about the Castellammarese War that led to the creation of The Commission. The book delves into the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the mob's moves in Las Vegas and a real-life Mafia boss who was seeing a shrink 50 years before Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal. And much much more.