On July 1, Persico pleaded not guilty along with 11 other New York Mafia leaders, after a previous indictment on a second set of racketeering charges as part of the Mafia Commission Trial. Prosecutors aimed to strike at all the crime families at once using their involvement in the Commission. According to Colombo hitman and FBI informant Gregory Scarpa, Persico and Gambino boss John Gotti backed a plan to kill the lead prosecutor, and future New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani in late 1986, but it was rejected by the rest of the Commission.