Russo's a BS artist. He's been making a great mystique over his role in GF, and his supposed Mob connections, for decades. Here is an excerpt from a Wiki article on him:

"Russo claims that he has personally known three popes, five United States Presidents and every Mafia boss in the United States. He also claims to have had romantic trysts with Marilyn Monroe, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liza Minnelli."

I take this Persico story with a ton of salt.