A powerful Colombo captain who vowed to find a mob rat and "chop his head off" is cooperating with the feds less than two weeks after his arrest, the Daily News has learned.

Anthony (Big Anthony) Russo was noticeably absent in Brooklyn Federal Court Friday when more than 40 alleged Colombo wiseguys were summoned for a status conference.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons lists Russo as "released" from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he was held after the Jan. 21 roundup of 127 accused gangsters.

Sources said he was sprung earlier this week after deciding to join Team America.

"It's another nail in the Colombo family's coffin," said a knowledgeable source. "Their entire leadership is gone."

Anthony Russo is not related to reputed acting boss Andrew (Mush) Russo but was considered one of his most reliable captains.

In a conversation secretly recorded in December, Russo told an informant there was a "rat real close to us" and said he wanted to find the individual and "chop his head off," according to court papers.

Russo was charged with racketeering and the 1993 murder of Colombo underboss Joseph Scopo during the family's civil war.

Defense lawyer Alexander Eisemann declined to comment.

Russo is the third Colombo captain to flip, joining Dino (Big Dino) Calabro and Paul (Paulie Guns) Bevacqua, whose cooperation was first disclosed by the website Gang Land News.



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