Michael Franzese

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Michael Franzese (2009)

Michael Franzese (born May 27, 1951 in New York City ), also known in the media as "Yuppie Don", is a former Italian-American mobster and influential Capo of the American Cosa Nostra of the New York Colombo family . He is the son of John "Sonny" Franzese, Sr. , who was considered a Colombo underboss .

For personal reasons and without harming the organization, Michael renounced the Cosa Nostra and has never been assassinated to this day.

Life

Early years

Michael "Yuppie Don" Franzese was on May 27, 1951 in Brooklyn ( New York City born), the son of John "Sonny" Franzese, Sr.. After Michael graduated from high school, he started a pre-semester in the medical field at Hofstra University .

When Joseph Colombo gave a big speech to over 50,000 people on "Italian-American Unity Day" on June 28, 1971 and was then shot, Michael Franzese was also there as an uninvolved person and exchanged a few words with Joe Colombo beforehand and was the last Person he had spoken to.

His father originally wanted Michael to become a doctor and have nothing to do with the world of organized crime. In the early 1970s, Michael decided to leave college to look after the family and work for the Colombo family as his father was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1970. According to their own statements, Michael and five other potential contenders were accepted into the Colombo family on Halloween 1975 and became so-called Made Men . The inauguration ceremony was carried out by the then incumbent boss named Thomas “Tom the Old Man” DiBella, in the presence of Underboss Anthony “Tony Shots” Abbatemarco and Consigliere Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico and all of the 15 so-called Capo regimes of the family were present. For a short time Michael was a protégé under the care of a Colombo soldato named Joseph "Joe-Joe" Vitacco and Andrew "Andy Mush" Russo became his capo.

Criminal rise

Michael made money as a loan shark and through extortion or auto-stealing, but he later made the big money through enormous profits from illegal gasoline businesses, where he was one of the first mafiosi to cleverly evade gasoline tax for gas station owners. He later expanded this business, worked with large corporations and founded fake corporations to illegally sell his gasoline. In cooperation with partners from Long Island (New York) and the Russian Mafia from Brighton Beach (Brooklyn), over 2 billion liters of discounted, tax-free gasoline were sold per month.

In the early 1980s, Michael's reputation in the underworld rose tremendously from his income and he was promoted to capo. He stated that he had between 300 and 500 soldiers and associates among himself. The street boss of the New York Genovese family named Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno also got into Michael's gasoline business.

At that time Michael Franzese owned his own villa, a house in Florida , a Learjet, as well as a helicopter and several boats. In 1986 Fortune Magazine ranked him 18th on their list of "Fifty Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses." He has admitted that at the height of his career he was making between $ 8-10 million a week. According to a federal report, Michael Franzese made more money for a La Cosa Nostra family than anyone since Al Capone of the Chicago outfit .

Convictions and exit

During his criminal career, Franzese was charged four times and always acquitted, until in 1985 he was charged with 14 counts, including product piracy and extortion from his gasoline business. He negotiated a deal, pleaded guilty on two counts, and was sentenced to ten years in federal prison in 1986 plus a $ 15 million refund.

In December 1987, in prison, Michael decided to turn his back on the Colombo family and organized crime. In 1989, after serving 43 months in prison, he was released from prison and moved to Los Angeles . During this time he and the author Dary Matera wrote a book called Quitting the Mob , which was published in December 1991. In the same month, December 27, Franzese was sentenced to four years in prison for violating his probation. He had been charged with tax fraud in Los Angeles and was eventually released from custody in 1995.

After his exit, Michael learned through the FBI that the long-time but imprisoned Colombo boss named Carmine John Persico, Jr. was planning an attack on him and his father gave his consent, as he too was disappointed with Michael's exit. Nevertheless, Michael was never the victim of an assassination attempt, although he never completely went into hiding, but merely behaved inconspicuously. Later Michael was close to his father again.

Legal life

An offer was made to Michael to use his Mafia experience for a good cause and to speak to professional athletes and college teams about the widespread problem of sports betting. Between 1998 and 2013, Franzese has already given lectures at more than 400 universities and spoke to sports students as a spokesman for the NCAA . Franzese acted as the keynote speaker at company events and leads seminars for business and law students. He speaks frequently at Christian conferences, special events, and church services. Michael founded and chaired the Breaking Out Foundation . According to the foundation's website, Breaking Out is dedicated to helping young people identify the challenges of life, especially gambling addiction.

Franzese has been interviewed on radio and television formats such as Renegade Talk Radio , Jim Rome Show , ESPN , HBO , Fox Sports , CNN , CNBC , TBN , MSNBC , Nat Geo , Fox News , The Savage Nation and USA Today . On January 1, 2003, Michael Franzese published his own book called Blood Covenant and later gave interviews for documentaries about the Cosa Nostra .

Films and documentaries

  • 2008: The 10 Commandments of the Mafia ; A documentary produced by Wall to Wall Media on the Discovery Channel , about a written code of conduct of the Cosa Nostra , which was discovered in November 2007.
  • 2013: The Mafia System of Crime (OT: The Definitive Guide to the Mob ); Documentary episode of the television program History Specials , with Michael Franzese, about the American Cosa Nostra .
  • 2013: Inside the American Mob ; 6-part documentary series about the American Cosa Nostra.
  • 2014: God the Father ; Elaborately produced documentary film about and with the script by Michael Franzese.
  • 2015: The Mafia with Trevor McDonald ; Two-part documentary series about the American Cosa Nostra.
  • 2017: From Mobster to Preacher ; the third episode of the television program How'd You Get So Rich? .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jesus.ch - Biggest Mafia earner since Al Capone is rethinking
  2. ^ Vanity Fair - The Born-Again Don
  3. ↑ New York Times - BASEBALL; From Captain to Coach: Ex-Goodfella's New Life
  4. ↑ WGN9 - 20 years a mobster Michael Franzese now inspires gangsters to turn around Their Lives
  5. ↑ The Telegraph - Former mafia boss Michael Franzese sounds warning over match-fixing
  6. Jump up ↑ Fortune - The 50 Biggest Mafia Bosses
  7. ^ New York Times - Crime Figure Testifies to Link With Sports Agent
  8. ^ New York Times - Mobster Sentenced in Probation Violation
  9. ^ NY Daily News - Ex-Colombo family mobster Michael Franzese, a born-again Christian, busted for writing bad checks
personal data
SURNAME Franzese, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Yuppie Don (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-American mobster
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York City