Michael Franzese

Franzese was born on May 27, 1951, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, to John "Sonny" Franzese, a Colombo crime family underboss, and Cristina Capobianco-Franzese, although Michael had initially questioned his actual biological father.[1] Franzese had initially believed that he had been adopted by John after his mother divorced Frank Grillo, who Franzese thought to be his biological father.[2] Michael claims he had gone by the name "Michael Grillo" until he was 18 years old.[3] However, it was later discovered that John, already married with three children, had gotten the 16-year-old Capobianco, a cigarette girl at the Stork Club in Manhattan, pregnant with Michael, so Capobianco married Grillo to avoid having a scandal surrounding having a child out of wedlock. After the mob allowed John to divorce his first wife, Grillo disappeared, and he married Capobianco.[2]

Franzese later moved to Long Island. After finishing high school, Franzese entered a pre-med program at Hofstra University in 1969; his father originally did not want him to be involved in organized crime.[4] However, in 1971, Franzese decided to drop out of college to help his family earn money when his father was sentenced to 50 years in prison for bank robbery in 1967.[5]

Franzese became acquainted with his father's friends such as Joseph Colombo, and later became inducted as a made man on Halloween night 1975.[6] Franzese took the blood oath alongside friend Jimmy Angelino, Joseph Peraino Jr., Salvatore Miciotta, Vito Guzzo Sr., and John Minerva — all of whom died violently over the next 20 years.[7][8][9][10][11] Although Franzese recounts this ceremony had taken place in 1975, the membership books reportedly were not reopened until 1976 (they had been closed since 1957).[12]

Franzese was briefly mentored by Colombo soldier Joseph "Joe-Joe" Vitacco (1927–1980).[13][14] During the late 1970s, Franzese met with Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, who was then a soldier. Angelo Ruggiero was also present. Franzese was contacted by a flea market owner who complained that his partner was using and selling drugs at the market in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Franzese agreed to frighten him and become the new partner. Franzese sent Colombo soldier-turned informant Anthony Sarivola and another member who remains unidentified.[15] Gotti however claimed that the scared-off partner was an associate of his. After several meetings, Franzese proposed to buy Gotti out. Gotti replied, "Buy me out? I buy you out," and handed over $70,000. Franzese later expressed admiration for Gotti, citing his strict gangster lifestyle and his overwhelming ego.[16]

In 1980, Franzese had become a caporegime of a crew of 300.[17][18]

In 1980, Franzese was contacted by Lawrence Salvatore Iorizzo, who initially thought of a scheme to defraud the federal government out of gasoline taxes.[19] Iorizzo was being hassled by associates of another crime family and promised Franzese a percentage if he would defend and solve the issue. The pair set up 18 stock-bearer companies based in Panama. Once authorities suspected one company of fraudulent activity, Franzese would move onto the next company. Under law at the time in Panama, gasoline could be sold tax-free from one wholesale company to the next.[20] Franzese partnered with the Russian Mafia in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn in the gas scheme.[21] The family would collect the state and federal taxes, but keep the money instead. At the same time, they were often selling the gas at lower prices than at legitimate gas stations. In 1986, Fortune Magazine listed Franzese as number 18 on its list of the "Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses".[22] Franzese had claimed that at the height of his career, he generated up to $8 million per week.[23] Revenue officials estimated $250 million in gasoline tax was stolen in New York state per year, before moving on to Florida which was estimated to have lost $40 million to $250 million in stolen gasoline tax.[24] Authorities believe the money was laundered through Franzese's film production company, Miami Gold, to offshore bank accounts in Austria and Panama.[24] An associate later testified that Franzese personally made $1 million per week from the gas scheme.[25] Franzese bought a home in Delray Beach, Florida.[6]

During the 1970s, he began to enter the world of legitimate business and by the mid 1980s Franzese had a stronghold on various businesses such as car dealerships, leasing companies, auto repair shops, restaurants, nightclubs, a contractor company, movie production and distribution companies, travel agencies and video stores.[26]

By 1980, Franzese was a partner with booking agent Norby Walters in his firm. Franzese's role was to intimidate existing and prospective clients. In 1981, Franzese successfully extorted a role for Walters in the US tour by singer Michael Jackson and his brothers. In 1982, the manager for singer Dionne Warwick wanted to drop Walters as an agent; Franzese met with the manager and persuaded him to keep Walters.[27]

In 1983, the FBI launched an investigation into boxing promoter Don King's organized crime connections and targeted Franzese to introduce an FBI undercover agent, using the alias Victor Quintana, to King. Franzese, who had never met King, says he was introduced to him by civil rights leader Al Sharpton. Franzese claimed he first met Sharpton through Genovese crime family mobster, Daniel Pagano.[28] Quintana was to give the impression that he was buying his way into the boxing world in order for King to reveal his criminal associations, however the investigation subsequently collapsed after Quintana failed to follow through with several hundred thousand dollars.[29]

In 1985, Walters set up a sports management agency with Franzese as a silent partner. At a meeting he agreed to hand over $50,000 in return for a 25 percent interest from the sports agency.[30]

Franzese was the president of Miami Gold, a film production company that produced the 1986 film, Knights of the City.[25][24] Franzese met his future wife, Camille Garcia, while shooting the film in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, in 1984.[6][31]

In April 1985, Franzese was acquitted of racketeering charges.[32] In another case in December 1985, Franzese was one of nine people indicted on 14 counts of racketeering, counterfeiting and extortion from the gasoline bootlegging racket.[19] Iorizzo, who was already sentenced to five years and ordered to pay $1.7 million for his role in the theft of $1.1 million in gas taxes and placed in the witness protection program, began testifying against Franzese and others in their operation in March 1985.[24] On March 21, 1986, Franzese pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of tax conspiracy.[19][27][33] He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay over $14 million in restitution, agreeing to sell his assets including a mansion in Old Brookville, New York, the Miami Gold production company, and use proceeds from the Knights of the City film.[25][33]

In 1989, Franzese was released from prison on parole after serving 43 months.[25] On December 27, 1991, Franzese was sentenced in New York to four years in federal prison for violating the probation requirements from his 1989 release.[25] Franzese had been arrested in Los Angeles on a tax fraud accusation and was sent back to New York for the probation hearing.[25] In court, prosecutors complained that Franzese had only started paying the balance of his court-ordered restitution payments earlier that year.[25] Franzese was also later subpoenaed to testify at Walters' trial in 1989, as Walters had invoked his name to frighten college athletes into signing management contracts, including Maurice Douglass, allowing him to get a reduced sentence.[27][25] Prosecutors have said that Franzese was not considered by the government to be a federal cooperating witness.[25] While imprisoned in 1991, Franzese became a born-again Christian after he was given a Bible by a prison guard.[34] He also spent time in solitary confinement.[31] He was ultimately released on November 7, 1994, retiring from the mob in 1995 by moving to California with his wife and children; the relocation was also a result of receiving multiple death threats and contracts on his life, including one approved by his father.[18][14][31] His wife, a Christian, also influenced him in his decision to leave the mob.[18]

In 1992, Franzese co-authored his first book, an autobiography, Quitting the Mob.[35] In the book, Franzese discusses his criminal activities, life with his father, and meeting his second wife, Camille Garcia.

Since his release in 1994, Franzese has publicly denounced the life of organized crime, and became a motivational speaker for youth, at schools, and other venues.[36] He also frequently speaks at Christian conferences and churches, including helping the Willow Creek Community Church, in November 2016, to give each of the 70,000 inmates in the state of Illinois a Christmas package. Franzese also speaks at prisons throughout the world, such as Pentonville Prison in England. In 2016, he vowed to help Christian refugees fleeing the Middle East.[37]

On July 23, 2002, while appearing on the HBO television program Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Franzese claimed that during the 1970s and 1980s, he persuaded New York Yankees players who owed money to Colombo loansharks to fix baseball games for betting purposes. The Yankees organization immediately denied Franzese's accusations.[14]

In 2003, Franzese published Blood Covenant, an updated and expanded life story.[38] He appeared in the 2013 Inside the American Mob, a National Geographic documentary.[39]

Franzese lives in Anaheim, California with his wife, Camille Garcia, and their seven children. He is the author of six books: Quitting the Mob (1992), Blood Covenant (2003), The Good, the Bad and the Forgiven (2009), I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse (2011), From the Godfather to God the Father (2014), and Blood Covenant: The Story of the "Mafia Prince" Who Publicly Quit the Mob and Lived (2018).[40]

Franzese was portrayed by Joseph Bono in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas (1990).[41]

In April 2013, a documentary called The Definitive Guide To The Mob was released by Lionsgate, with Franzese as commentator.[42]

In June 2013, the National Geographic Channel released a six-part series called Inside the American Mob, in which, as among other story lines, Franzese's climb up the ranks in the Colombo family is chronicled.[43]

His biopic, God the father, was released in theaters and cinemas across the United States on October 31, 2014.[44]

In March 2015, he appeared in a two-part documentary on the American Mafia with television presenter and reporter Trevor McDonald.[45][46] He spoke about his wealth, but also the impact of being a member of the Colombo crime family had on his family, and that was why he turned away from organized crime.[47][48][49]

Franzese hosted a stage musical, A Mob Story, at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The show opened in October 2018 and was created and directed by Jeff Kutash.[50]

In June 2020, Franzese started a YouTube channel.

In July 2020, he appeared in the Fear City: New York vs The Mafia Netflix docuseries.[51]

• Michael Franzese official website
• Michael Franzese at IMDb
• Youtube - Michael Franzese