Theres, there is no question about it.. His pals included some of the biggest entertainers of the time, and a Newsday reporter would later ask if he knew Frank Sinatra. Ava Gardner, I started to talk to her. We had Joe Valachi, and if you would have opened up, it would have destroyed the Mafia. Cassato turned solemn without being somber at the end of the funeral, saying that Franzese now rested in Gods love and grace. Johnny got up, but couldnt help but protest: Sonny, youre too much. But it is also clear that as he pushes through the infirmities of old age he has a pacemaker, hearing aids and is nursing a broken hip the prospect of death and a possible afterlife are not far from his mind. Most importantly in his mob career, Franzese was an earner, making money for the family in a variety of ways. I got my hands in there. Years later, he would talk about it with genuine disbelief. He died in a Queens nursing home at the age of 103, having lived long enough to become known as the Nodfather for dozing off in court. News. The more Im talking to her, I realize shes getting friendlier and friendlier. since Giancana and John Roselli (Sinatra) used Judith Campbell Exner, Jeanne Carmen, Marilyn Monroe among other women -to throw at JFK She reported, You better believe I started drinking white wine spritzers at work functions. Sonny maybe met Al Capone but he said Sonny knew him and it's a pretty vague term. You had to remember it without writing anything down.. What if Sam Giancana said, Look, Frank, you didnt get it done. But after violating parole by associating with known mobsters, he was placed back in prison in 1982 only to be inexplicably paroled again in 1984. A feared enforcer and dictatorial head of the Profaci (later Colombo) family, he knew where all the bodies were buried, so to speak, and may have had inside knowledge on the JFK assassination. After the Army, Franzese resumed his street life and racked up 10 more arrests through June 1963. Mike said he knows the shooter and he has a tape to this today which discusses where Hoffa was killed. He worked in the record business, and put up some of the cash behind the mobs alleged investment in the classic porn flick Deep Throat reportedly securing a piece of its supposed $600-million gross. Finally, Franzese stressed the importance of properly dealing with the corpse. Following the 2008 arrest, it was the racketeering charges that stuck, allowing authorities to take Franzese to trial. Sonny franzese and marilyn monroe Lidia Yuknavitch on Her Philosophy of Teaching, What Should You Read Next? For one, investigators said that Franzese had largely been able to avoid murder charges because of his knack for making bodies disappear. Family and friends vouch for his assertion that he didnt drink, smoke or do drugs. The informant got off with probation and was allowed to keep the money he had stolen. In 2017, he was freed from prison, the . Send it to The Daily Beasthere. In 2010, at the age of 93, he was indicted for attempting to shake down two night spots and a pizzeria. stars Franzese's career in organized crime began in the 1930s and spanned over eight decades. He was 103 years old. Screwed his mind up.. [10] Franzese's nephew, Salvatore Franzese, reportedly headed Franzese's gambling operations while Franzese was in prison. It aint right for something Id never done., But Franzese did the time, he said, becauseI didnt want to rat on anybody., After exhausting his appeals, he entered prison around Easter in 1970, resolute. Copyright 2023 Newsday. The bronze coffin was covered with an American flag in recognition of Franzeses service during World War II, even though it was cut short for reasons that are not entirely clear. Facts are facts his time is nearly up. Africa So Id have to be a nut to rob banks.. The once-feared mobster was the Colombo crime family's second in command and died on February 20 of natural causes at a nursing home in upstate New York. Podell became a staple in gossip columns, which, naturally, boosted his business. Down in the darkened arena, a very different personal drama was playing out. Franzese, who died on Feb. 23 at age 103, recalled those nights recently as part of a series of interviews with Newsday over the past two years. The mourners laughed as they had at the line about taxes, making it two laughs more than at your basic old school mob boss funeral. You asked the question the wrong way, Franzese replied. He was sentenced to eight more years. Spritzers, really weak white wine spritzers. Theres an expression, theres two things in life youre sure of, right? Cassato said. Yet he was tried for murder only once, and was acquitted. At home, a loving father and husband, but on the street, a hard-core guy who never had regrets, never would admit to any crime, never give anybody up, never violate his Mafia oaths a mobster all the way., After this look at John Sonny Franzese, check out these astounding facts about Al Capone. See, I used to play it right. sex According to his son Michael, he passed away in a hospital in the New York area, but no further details were given. To Sonny, that was tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet. John "Sonny" Franzese, who was one of the deadliest, richest, and longest-living Mafia bosses, died on February 25, 2019. He said, If you want to play rock and roll, first you have to play blues, then you have to play jazz. Customers came to see the glittering roster of performers onstage, but were just as thrilled when they spotted celebrities, and mobsters, in the audience. From then on, Franzese wasnt charged with another crime again until 2008, when he was arrested along with eight other Colombo mobsters. I'm gonna do the whole 50". In 2017, at the age of 100, the underboss of the Colombo crime family was released early from a prison sentence that would have capped off his turbulent life of crime. I never hurt nobody that was innocent, Franzese once told Newsday. People would come there to see me, too, Sonny said. Franzese said his superior officers liked his quick intelligence and fighting spiritbut that his gambling and liaison with a majors wife probably were what got him into trouble. Sonny today Alert, animated and with slightly graying hair, he claimed to have struck up relationships with Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and the 1950s television star Dagmar. Youre chasing me off the table., Sonny replied, I cant have sex with you. The guy is telling incredible lies. The charges, ranging from vagrancy to rape, all followed a strikingly similar pattern they were either dismissed or he was acquitted. Franzese also got involved in the music industry of the 1960s and 1970s, financing recordings by the likes of The Isley Brothers and Curtis Mayfield, while also using this business to launder his illicit mob earnings. He wanted to talk to me. He apparently assumed his estranged wife would not follow him there. Linked by law enforcement to multimillion-dollar bookmaking, loan sharking and extortion rackets and caught on tape alluding to multiple murders he claimed to have committed, he remained mute through more than 35 years behind bars as mob boss after mob boss violated the mobscode of silence in exchange for lighter prison sentences. [38] In 2019, Franzese Jr. met with his father at the nursing home where he resided and reconciled with him; John Jr. had previously voluntarily left the Witness Protection Program. Franzese was born in Naples, Italy, to Carmine Franzese and Maria Corvola on February 6, 1917, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He cared about his money and was particularly entrepreneurial in infiltrating legitimate businesses. Sonny was not at all ashamed of his many infidelitiesI was a run-around guybut it bothered him that he had hurt a man he idolized. World, Hosted byByohosting-Most Recommended Web Hosting- for complains, abuse, advertising contact:o f f i c e @byohosting.com, John Sonny Franzese, mafia boss who dated Frank Sinatra, who died at 103, Other Indonesian women will join the UN peacekeeping mission, FM says, Here's how Ingebrigtsen explains the tattoos - VG, She receives a (fake) Cartier ring in the mail, Pope Francis kisses woman's Nazi tattooed hand, Auschwitz survivor emotionally, It is said that Liu Yazhou was arrested scholar: the internal fighting is more intense before the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China | Xi Jinping | Li Xiannian | The Princely Party, Pasta with glyphosate in 7 out of 20 supermarket brands: the test by Il Salvagente. He used to come back to me and talk loud, so I could hear him. I liked him.. [34] While married, John had gotten Cristina Capobianco, a 16-year-old cigarette girl at the Stork Club in Manhattan, pregnant with his son Michael Franzese. But his real job was like a gangster, authorities said, and living a better life. Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather. I just want to go to the bathroom! Franzese could be heard pleading. So I jumped in and started helping him. As a younger man, according to Mafia lore, Franzese was a . Interesting interview. He talked about love at first sight when he met his second wife, Tina, a 16-year-old cigarette girl at The Stork Club, a famed celebrity hangout of the '40s and '50s, as well as the pride and pain he felt about his sons, who joined him as partners in crime before breaking away. Marilyn Monroe with Frank Sinatra (right) at a casino. Sonny Franzese romantic affair with Marilyn Monroe? His father, Carmine (The Lion) Franzese, had considerable prestige in the Mafia, according to Treasury Department records. In 2006, a fellow gangster secretly wearing a wire as an F.B.I. sport She was madly in love with him. By 1966, Franzeses swagger and success had become too much for law enforcement. He was 93 years old at the time. Franzese returned to the courtroom, where the jury made clear its view that he was guilty. To them, it was clear who the top man was, but Sonny, ever magnanimous, quieted them. [28] Franzese was released from the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts, on June 23, 2017, at the age of 100; he was the oldest federal inmate in the United States and the only centenarian in federal custody at the time of his release. Wikimedia CommonsOne of John Franzeses many mugshots. The claims are the first time that any mention has been made of such a trip in the days before Monroe died in 1962. I dont know., I said, After the show, come down here. She says, All right, Ill be down.. Podell, a former butcher, had a hard-knocks background, with bootlegging arrests, jail time, and a gunshot wound in the leg. He told the mourners during his homily of a moment after his transfer. The hell with him. Other recordings were made with the help of informants. It was May 19, 1962, when Monroe sashayed onto the stage of Madison Square Garden in a skintight, rhinestone-studded dress and sang a breathy Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy during a Democratic fundraiser. Sonny knew them wellHe was a good guy, Dean Martin. Once you appeared at the Copa, you could go anywhere in the world. relationship They wanted me to roll all the time, he said over a bowl of pasta e fagioliin the nursing home where he now lives. Play a lot of base ball with peoples kneecaps, eat well (the grilled cheese on the radiata) and have a reason to live (to outlive all the people that wronged you) and you'll look this good at that age. In 1970, when Franzese was 10 years old, his father began serving a 50-year sentence for conspiring to rob banks. He loved his children. Tough loss at any age, his son Michael said. [4] Franzese used Buddah to launder illegal mob earnings and to bribe disc jockeys with payola. She got around in high circles to the very end. ; Parole Violations Are Cited", "Nine Are Arrested in Sweeping Organized Crime Crackdown", Colombo organized crime family acting boss, underboss, and ten other members and associates indicted", "John Franzese Jr. testified against his dad, Sonny and then quit Witness Protection", "Feds: Sonny Asked a Mob Pal to Help Whack His Turncaot Son", "Colombo underboss John (Sonny) Franzese's son admits he sold his dad out for $50,000", "Colombo underboss John (Sonny) Franzese betrayed by son, who'll testify against legendary mobster", "93-Year-Old Crime Boss Gets 12-Year Sentence", "Mobster Sonny Franzese gets 8 years in prison", "Colombo mobster John Franzese, 99, denied compassionate release", "98-year-old inmate's prison funds targeted by feds", "Mafia boss, 93, faces prison after son breaks code of silence", "Penn State Forum Speaker Series Michael Franzese "Life Choices, Life Stories", "Special Report: Michael Franzese talks about quitting the mob", Hundred-year-old mobster's daughter gushes over dad's freedom, "John 'Sonny' Franzese, powerful mob boss who hung out with Frank Sinatra, dies at 103", "Priest at Sonny Franzese's funeral Mass: 'He just kept on going', American Gangster: The Sonny Franzese Story, List of Italian-American mobsters by organization, Collaborations between the United States government and Italian Mafia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonny_Franzese&oldid=1142670143, Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government, United States Army personnel of World War II, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox person with multiple parents, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Cristina Capobianco-Franzese (second wife), This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 19:20. Zephany Nurse Was Kidnapped As A Baby And Ended Up In The Same Class As Her Biological Sister, The Aral Sea Was Once A Desert Oasis Now It's Just A Desert, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Nick Sorrentino/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images. Jimmy Hoffa claimed to have in his possession "seamy" material about John and Bobby Kennedy. In the 1950s and 1960s, Franzese listed his official occupation as an owner of a dry-cleaning store in Brooklyn. It was a conspiracy to get me, Franzese said in his nursing home. There was laughter among about 75 people in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, at the funeral Mass for Franzese, the charming, menacing mobster who died Sunday at 103. His son Michael, who initially followed his father into the mob, eventually left organized crime and became a born-again Christian and motivational speaker. report from 1965 described Franzese, then underboss of the Colombo family, as the fastest growing and most prominent shylock in the Greater New York area.. While in prison, Franzese suffered from maladies that could have brought his story to an end (including kidney disease and high blood pressure), but he beat the odds each time. [4] However, in May 2007, Franzese was again returned to prison for a parole violation. And he said to me, [On]account of you, we could have broke the Mafia up. Maybe all the drugs he took. He was my hero.. Located on East 60th Street, the Copacabana had the feel of a private club. I wouldnt put a dog in a jail pod., John (Sonny)Franzeseis helped into his daughter's Brooklyn home by family members in June 2017. Credit: Craig Ruttle. He became a boccie player and a handball champion. When I used to see him, I made out (like) I dont see him. The cassette tapes were found by his nephew, Jeff Platts, and have now been made public. NEW YORK Legendary Colombo family capo John "Sonny" Franzese, who rubbed elbows with Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe before a bank robbery rap eventually made him the nation's oldest. Be the best.. It was so much part of who I am as a man, good or bad. . The extraordinary life and times of a legendary crime boss who refused to squealbut who finally agreed to talk to an award-winning New York Newsday reporter shortly before his death at age 103 . Younger men are springing up on all sides, including Joey Gallo, Sonny Franzese, etc. Jesus suffered, he said. Once he was asked if he knew Sinatra, the gangster hurriedly asked the question: You asked the question the wrong way. , updated They had met years earlier when he was performing at the Rustic Cabin, a roadhouse in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and a fight broke out. When he made his entrancestriding briskly, confidently, and with a slight smilea frisson of excitement rippled through the crowd. I figured hes a skinny guy, theyd kill him. In 1931, Franzese was straightened out, or inducted into the mob, when he was just 14, his son John said. Only now he gets to feel holy and forgiven while he cashes the checks. John "Sonny" Franzese reportedly committed his first murder at the age of fourteen. We have estimated Sonny Franzese's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. [4], In 1967, Franzese gained a financial interest in a new recording company, Buddah Records. In a frail voice, Mr Masters can be heard on the recordings saying: The night before she died, the last time I saw her, was in Lake Tahoe at the Cal-Neva Lodge. [20], Franzese's son, John Franzese Jr. became a government informant. The Case Sonny Franzese Couldn't Beat Newsday 24.3K subscribers 256K views 1 year ago #sonnyfranzese #newyork #mafia John (Sonny) Franzese had beaten a dozen cases before. But despite the odds, that wasnt the case. I was ashamed. [5] In 1942, in the midst of World War II, he was drafted to the United States Army, but was discharged later that year classified as "psychoneurotic with pronounced homicidal tendencies". [5], Franzese operated out of New York City and New Jersey and was involved in racketeering, fraud, and loansharking. A cause of death has not been announced. You are a spark plug, ready to attack any situation. The Hollywood actress is said to have spent the evening with Sam Giancana after taking the singers private jet to Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He is largely responsible for the glamorization of the Mafia over the past century, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Posa after his 2017 release. The procession then departed, taking with it an era and in no need of flower cars. Sonny was always nattily dressed and knew full well that reporters would describe his wardrobe in detail, his cashmere coats included: In those days, cashmere was expensive.. All are sealed, according to the court. Getting in wasnt easy. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Ate a lot of crappy jail food. A new account claims she spent the night before her death at his retreat in Lake Tahoe She flew home to Los Angeles early the following. He had been the oldest inmate in the federal prison system, but now he was free and on his way to spend time at his daughters home in Brooklyn. That man can do jail time standing on his head.. You thought I was the star sometimes., The Copacabana was a launching pad for careers, from Sammy Davis Jr. to Wayne Newton to June Allyson, who got her start on the Copa dance line. Allowing someone to see that they got under my skin was not an option, as he explained, because they would learn my weakness and exploit it for their own benefit, for their own use to climb ahead., She added, Interestingly, he didnt want me to employ that same strategy. I started making money and then I opened up a club, another club, another club, and I started making big money. Now 102 years old, John (Sonny) Franzese, the longtime underboss of the Colombo crime family, is the epitome of the old-style crime chieftain. Though frail, he was all smiles. Before long, he asked her, Whos taking you home?. Though he evaded capture for years, Sonny Franzeses criminal ways did eventually catch up with him but not before he skated by the law one more time. A wise guy hosted the game, he explained, butI was the one running it.. 09:05 GMT 29 Apr 2011. Watch full Franzese podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ZFK-KBINY\u0026list=PLPT_cCpNMvT50d_7cJ55ciKoZEY8q_YPt\u0026index=4Michael Franzese UK tour: https://michaelfranzesetour.com/Michael Franzese YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6hqYXMeeZU\u0026t=64sMichael Franzese Insta: https://www.instagram.com/michaelfranzese_/Michael Franzese Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelFranzeseMichael Franzese inner circle: https://join.michaelfranzese.com/Michael Franzese grew up as the son of Sonny Franzese, the underboss of New York's violent Colombo crime family. He spoke to Newsday, in part, because he said he remembers reporters treating him fairly after his conviction for conspiracy to rob banks in 1967. $1 Million - $5 Million. He was deeplyin love with his second wife, Tina, whose volatile temper influenced the family dynamic as much as her husbands outlaw life. John Franzese, known as Sonny, had been the federal prison system's oldest inmate and its only centenarian when he completed his last stint behind bars in 2017. I wouldnt turn around., Sinatra was used to being in charge, but not when Sonny was around. The elder Franzese was born in Sicily, moving with his family as a child to Brooklyn. So all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, Jayne Mansfield comes walking out. Sonny needed to make room for her at his table, so he told his friend Johnny to leave. The mutual attraction proved irresistible, and their relationship led to an encounter that that left Sonny deeply ashamed. By turns avuncular and crude, he answered questions about his extraordinary life. Over the course of the ensuing decades, Franzese cemented his reputation as one of New Yorks flashiest mobsters. Over the years, Franzese listed his legitimate work as a tailor, a baker and a salesman. He and Sonny, though, had an uneasy relationship, as each jousted to assert dominance. [34] After the mob allowed John to divorce his first wife, Grillo disappeared, and he married Capobianco. [1][14] His son, Michael, alleged that when Mishler sentenced his father, Franzese declared, "You watch. Franzese was born in Naples and came to New York as a young boy, part of a massive migration of Italians arriving in New York by 1920. Franzese went on to say that he had been told of the great good Cassato had done. He would be the last guy I thought would do that. Marilyn was gorgeous, forget about it.. To avoid having a scandal surrounding having a child out of wedlock, Capobianco married Frank Grillo. In 1967, Franzese was arrested for a series of bank robberies. But he did it.. ! They went to the church for help, lacking even the subway fare to get home. But just like everyone else, he couldnt beat death. Franzese said he remembers crying when he saw him in prison the . Doubt she wastes her time with someone like Sonny at that point. I wasnt a guy that was afraid, you know, he said. There the gangster with whom she was allegedly in love apparently tried to persuade her not to go public about her affair with President John F Kennedy. His father, eyes cast downward, said: Listen, it broke my heart. What can I tell him? Franzese looks far younger than he is and remembered details of the various criminal charges against him with clarity, particularly those surrounding the bank robbery conspiracy that he insists he was not involved in. The Mafia Secretly Taped Marilyn Monroe to Blackmail the Kennedy Brothers. Meanwhile, this movie star of a mobster even got involved in the film business himself as a financier for both The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in 1974 and Deep Throat, the infamous 1972 pornographic film that shared its name with the informant who helped The Washington Post break the Watergate scandal. Alert, animated and with slightly graying hair, he claimed to have struck up relationships with Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and the 1950s television star Dagmar. More significantly for Franzese, Valachi identified him as a member of the Profaci family, which was the precursor to the Colombos, according to Senate records. [4] His mother had given him the nickname "Sonny" at a young age. [10] After he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1986, Michael was ultimately released in 1994 and retired to California in 1995. And in December, the Nassau district attorney accused him of engineering the home invasion of an Oceanside jukebox executive in which two teenagers were handcuffed to a pole in the basement and gagged with duct tape. I couldnt get a [liquor] license., Asked why he couldnt get a license, he said, smiling, I was a bad guy.. Lets bring her back again so I can have a shot at it. [8][9], He was accused of murdering Genovese crime family hitman-turned-informant Ernest Rupolo in 1964 on the orders of Vito Genovese.
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