His supporters. He was my hero.. He was 103 years old. Paroled for the first time in 1978, Franzese returned to prison five more times as he violated his parole again and again by associating with fellow mobsters. That I promise.. John (Sonny)Franzese walks into the federal courthouse in Uniondale on June 18, 1982, as he surrenders to authorities. He is so smart and careful and sufficiently insulated that police are frustrated in every attempt to nail him down. Celebrities, socialites, and sports stars all jockeyed for a coveted table amid the faux palm trees. He repeatedly refused. All rights reserved. He beat a life sentence. Rupolo was shot and stabbed several times before his feet were attached to two concrete blocks and his hands tied before being dumped into Jamaica Bay. Franzese was born in Naples, Italy, to Carmine Franzese and Maria Corvola on February 6, 1917, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. coronavirus Hoffa was buried somewhere very wet and deep, out of New York and Jersey. After the 2004 incarceration of John "Jackie" DeRoss, Franzese was again promoted to Colombo family underboss in 2005, for the first time since his 1967 imprisonment, by Thomas Gioeli. Following the 2008 arrest, it was the racketeering charges that stuck, allowing authorities to take Franzese to trial. He was a good guy. The renowned tough guy did his prison time without ever turning on his mob associates following a 1967 conviction that was widely considered both inside and outside organized crime as a setup. But he deflected questions about his mob family, how he ran the rackets, or prominent mob bosses such as Frank Costello and Joseph Bonanno. Mike said he knows the shooter and he has a tape to this today which discusses where Hoffa was killed. During a break in the proceedings, the elder Franzese rolled into the mens room in a wheelchair. He worries about his grandchildren, exhorting them to get an education, and says he has told many younger relatives to go straight, for practical reasons, at least. But Franzeses commercial side was darker: he had once admitted killing 10 men during a 2006 chat with a mafia informant, with other estimates of his mob murders reaching 60. When Sinatra was dating actress Ava Gardner, she would come to the Copa to watch him perform. He was silent, even though he hated prison. Now you may not believe this, but, so help me God, she told it to meshe says to me, I made a lot of pictures. And then youll be ready to play rock and roll because you have to know where the music comes from., The grandson now marveled, And to hear that from an old Italian guy. I got my hands in there. [20], Franzese's son, John Franzese Jr. became a government informant. No doubt about it. He died in a Queens nursing home. He recounted a time when he was starting out in music and grew weary of playing classical works. Maurice also recounted a story from the 1960s, before Franzese was sent to prison. I'm gonna do the whole 50". Franzeses first recorded arrest came on Jan. 7, 1938, in Brooklyn for felonious assault. Franzese rose quickly through the mob ranks and became a capobecause he was what is known as an earner, generating steady income for himself and his bosses in the Colombo family, his sons said. Down in the darkened arena, a very different personal drama was playing out. Sonny Franzese romantic affair with Marilyn Monroe? I liked him.. Just doing the numbers and the only way sonny met Al wouldve been as a young pre teen kid. Colombos legendary gangster gangster John Sonny Franzese, who was with Frank Sinatra and befriended Marilyn Monroe before a bank robbery conviction made him the nations oldest federal inmate, died in a hospital of New York City. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Other recordings were made with the help of informants. His son John Franzese Jr. had testified against him, becoming the first son of a New York mobster to turn state's evidence and testify against his father. Ruggedly handsome with a swagger many women found irresistible, he frequented the citys top clubs, especially the Copacabana, where Frank Costello boss of the Luciano mob family, which was the precursor of todays Genovese family was a silent partner and Franzese was an honored guest among the celebrities. Russia No Frank Sinatra, no Dean Martin. I wasnt a guy that was afraid, you know, he said. I knew them all, he said. You wouldnt help us. I said, Go and F yourself! And I walked away from him.. One of Monroe's last flings was Giancana, who was arguably the most powerful gangster in the country at that time, and was in Sinatra's circle. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Abroad The Rat Pack? He was paroled in 1978, but was re-jailed at least six times on parole violations throughout the decades that followed. 09:05 GMT 29 Apr 2011. Podell became a staple in gossip columns, which, naturally, boosted his business. The informant got off with probation and was allowed to keep the money he had stolen. 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. 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. His account of what happened that evening was telling because he actually expressed remorse about it. 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. Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather. Technology Nonetheless, Franzese said he has no regrets about his life. She reported, You better believe I started drinking white wine spritzers at work functions. Dont forget, I fought everybody.. But he built his fortune by theft and violence, and as far as I can see he's still making money off that lifestyle. He is here with us right now, and he wants to make sure Im not gonna say certain things. Today, Franzeseregularly uses a wheelchair to get around. John Jr., 58 Franzeses favorite child wore a wire to gather evidence against the Colombos. After six months, his family returned with Franzese to their home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where his father ran a bakery. Some of their shared friends were put off by Sinatras arrogance. [10] After he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1986, Michael was ultimately released in 1994 and retired to California in 1995. You had to remember it without writing anything down.. He was 103 years old. The conviction was based, in large part, on tapes made by his son John, who also testified against his father. The charges wereand continue to bewidely viewed as false. Gardner was beautiful and tempestuous, and everyone knew Sinatra was hopelessly in love with her. After the sentence was announced, Franzeses estranged wife told reporters, Id be shocked if he doesnt live to 100. Franzese's career in organized crime began in the 1930s and spanned over eight decades. ice Hockey Jesus suffered, he said. In an interview, John said he had become sober in 2001 after battling a yearslong drug addiction. . 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.. 68.4k members in the Mafia community. I couldnt get a [liquor] license., Asked why he couldnt get a license, he said, smiling, I was a bad guy.. The women went crazy.. [4] He became a made man in 1950,[4] and served in the crew of Sebastian "Buster" Aloi, father of former Colombo family acting boss Vincenzo Aloi. Patrons of the club knew exactly who he was. In college you couldnt bring a phone book with you, Maurice noted, saying Franzese could remember a thousand different phone numbers., He would rattle off these phone numbers, rattle off these names, tell you what to do, Maurice recalled. In 2010, at the age of 93, he was indicted for attempting to shake down two night spots and a pizzeria. I wouldnt talk to him. . He didnt believe it would get me very far., He counseled her to know and study what others are doing., Do it better, or dont do it at all, she recalled him telling her. I dont know., I said, After the show, come down here. She says, All right, Ill be down.. Maybe all the drugs he took. He laughed along with his companions; they were always kidding around. Adapted from SONNY: The Last of the Old-Time Mafia Bosses, John Sonny Franzese, by S. J. Peddie. government [4], In 1967, Franzese gained a financial interest in a new recording company, Buddah Records. [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. The procession then departed, taking with it an era and in no need of flower cars. He was also a regular at the Copacabana and met such stars as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. on a frequent basis. She had once asked him how he managed not to imbibe and still fit in during his days as a man about town at nightclubs with the real lookers., He said the waiters only put just enough white wine in the seltzer so others would think he was drinking, she remembered. Franzese was more open about his own family. But his real job was as a gangster, authorities said, and living the high life. He used to come back to me and talk loud, so I could hear him. One F.B.I. By 1935, when he was 18, he said, he was running the largest craps game in New York. Sinatra? Be the best.. 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. ! In 1963, Joe Valachi became the first big Mafia informant, testifying before Congress and giving America its first look inside the mob. [34][35] Franzese had four more children with Capobianco, who died in 2012. The claims are the first time that any mention has been made of such a trip in the days before Monroe died in 1962. It was a conspiracy to get me, Franzese said in his nursing home. He was well-regarded by his criminal associates, who used him to broker deals between feuding mob factions. His violent inclinations didnt cease there. He could be heard saying on one tape that he had committed numerous murders, but he was acquitted the only time he was ever charged with homicide. Dinamo I figured hes a skinny guy, theyd kill him. Frank Sinatra, even more than other entertainers, was comfortable around mobsters. That was the Madison Square Garden of show business., Part of the Copacabanas appeal was its exclusivity. At the trial, John Franzese Jr. told jurors not to be fooled by his elderly fathers frail appearance (he was dubbed the Nodfather by the press due to his habit of dozing during the trial).