Sonny Franzese still a threat at 98 years old

The name Sonny Franzese was much better known on the street to those who were in the life, than the name John Gotti.  Sonny was very respected and feared by everyone, including the government. This distinction has caused him many years of grief.

Sonny has now earned the title of the oldest inmate in the federal prison system, and, if he lives to his release date, he will be released just after his 100th birthday in 2017.  Sonny has spent the last 40 years in and out of prison, much of the time a result of his bank robbery conviction in 1970 for which he was given 50 years.  The case was a obviously a set up by the prosecutors because they had Sonny working with a crew of junkie bank robbers who didn't even know him.

Sonny has been released many times by the parole board, only to be violated for associating with known felons. He would be out for enough time to be given his position of capo in the Colombo family back, and then he would be sent back.

When Colombo family underboss Jackie Deross went away for life, the family upped Sonny to underboss.  The position was short lived because the government already had its sources in place.  Sonny finally caught a new case after a guy wearing a wire caught him on tape.  The case was backed up by his son John Franzese.  Sonny was sentenced to 8 years in 2011 for the new case, and that should by all means be the end of his story.

The government is now going after the wheelchair-bound incarcerated man's prison commissary account.  It would be funny if it were not true.  

The same government who let the wife of con man Bernie Madoff keep $2.5 million of their stolen cash.  Unlike Ruth’s stolen loot, the money in Sonny’s account was given to him by relatives for his use to live.

They want to seize his $10,089 in the account that he uses to buy cup-o-noodles and hygiene items like soap, shampoo and shower shoes.  He buys ice cream every once in awhile and the rest he uses for phone calls.  The US wants to seize the cash to pay on his judgement that was part of his sentencing.  They claim that neither Sonny nor his co defendant Joseph DiGorga have paid a dime of what they owe. I would like to point out that Sonny is locked up in federal prison, so it would be pretty hard for him to earn money to pay anything and this is why inmates have accounts. They want to take his money and leave him with $250 to last the next two years.  Joseph DiGorga was release in 2014 and I am sure he is on parole.  He would have to pay back something every month even if it was 25 dollars a month.

How is it that the federal government has the resources and time to go after Sonny, when our southern border is open with millions of people crossing illegally every year.  It is a federal crime to come into the United States without going through immigration.  Everyone of these people costs us far more every year than a Sonny Franzese.

When I was still on the street, Teddy Persico Jr. had a guy in his crew that worked at the Hustler Club in Manhattan that Sonny was convicted of shaking down.  Teddy had to go to a couple of sitdowns over two brothers that others wanted to kill because of the club.  The brothers were sons of Gambino family guy who was in Las Vegas for many years. The brothers lived but the Feds never did much about that whole deal.  

If they just released Sonny now, what harm would it do? He can’t walk. he can't see well and he cannot hear.  The glory days are behind him.  They should let him go home for his final days to die.

A note on last week's story.  Mr New Orleans:

The traditional Second Line parade in celebration of Frenchy Brouillette's life will take place beginning at 4PM on SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13th in the French Quarter outside of Felix's Oyster Bar off Bourbon and Iberville. Attendees are invited to start collecting around 3:50.

Led by MR. NEW ORLEANS author Matthew Randazzo, the parade will be joined by the Storyville Stompers brass band and Pastor Ray Cannata, who will say a benediction as we begin. The parade will travel to some historic places in Frenchy's life before ending with a memorial toast at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. In addition to Frenchy's friends and fans, all Mardi Gras Indians, baby dolls, Saints fans in full costume, rolling Elvi, and other manifestations of New Orleans are invited to come out and honor Mr. New Orleans with the wildest, most flamboyant second line in French Quarter memory.

It sounds like a great send off!

Turning it all around: Michael Franzese

I get a lot of emails calling me a rat, and others who chose to go down the same path experience the same.  Some people want to argue with me about how the life of crime is good.  One more time: there are no happy endings in the Cosa Nostra.

I just watched a DVD with Michael Franzese talking about his life.  I've had it for years and it has moved with me at least twice.  I had never watched it and the other day I sat down and started watching.  The funny thing is I am sure that I got it from someone in law enforcement at some speaking engagement I’ve done in the past - I can’t remember when or how.

It has taken me ten years to come to grips with my former life.  I take responsibility for my life and all I've done.  I lay it all out and tell it like it was and is now.  

Michael has a great Christian testimony, one of the first things he speaks about is the toll that being in the life takes on those around you.  All these people that think the Cosa Nostra is about a bunch of guys cracking jokes, living the high life are wrong.  The toll it takes on the families is huge and that is an untold story.  I know a number of family members from the life and it was never as good as the movies portray, in fact it was more like a horror movie.

Michael had to live a life growing up where law enforcement contact became normal.  The police arriving to arrest his father Sonny, or to search the house was routine.  To read about Sonny in the newspapers and to have friends like the Hawk and the Chubby Brothers.

Michael did go to Catholic school and he did study the Bible, but they were just subjects in class.  He would lose his father to a 50 year prison sentence for a string of bank robberies.  

It is crazy that Sonny would get convicted for that crime when there is no way he would deal with such low lifes.  I spoke to Jerry Zimmerman about it and he told me it was crap. A set up.  The problem is, Sonny lived the life and committed many more crimes that in reality were worse.

Michael would lose a sister to drugs.   There was another sister in LA who passed away a few years ago.  John Jr., his brother, was a drug addict who was in Los Angeles for a time.  I knew him and he was just a sad guy.  He could not live in his father's shadow.  He would end up going back to New York to work as a helper for Sonny after he got out of prison in the 2000’s for his 5th parole violation.  John Jr. would end up wearing a wire on his father and even testifying against him.  

John was home with his wife in Los Angeles one day and he went into the garage and that was the last she saw of him.  He was whisked away into the WITSEC program.   So even in the storied Franzese clan there are no happy endings.  In the American Cosa Nostra or as the media likes to say it the Mafia you do not get much higher than Sonny Franzese.

Michael far surpassed his father in money making.  Michael made money in car dealerships and traditional Organized Crime activities.  It was when he partnered up with Fat Larry Iorizzo in the gas business that he went into the stratosphere of mob moneymakers.  I've written about guys in his crew that worked in the gas business with him.  They had huge homes and helicopters. They made huge amounts of cash by stealing the federal and state gas tax.  Jerry Zimmerman, who moved to California to get into the movie business, had a picture with a large cooler sized stack of cash from those days.  

Michael’s life changed because of Jerry Zimmerman but he had no idea at the time.  Jerry got him involved in a movie that would be called Knights of the City.  It was a breakdance movie and even though I've not seen it in years I'm sure it represents that time period well.

Michael would meet his future wife on set.  What Michael did not know was that he was setting the foundation for him to completely change his life.  I've heard it all about Michael. I've never met him, but like I said we have many former friends in common.

Michael’s life was not to be spent in prison or murdered on some street in Brooklyn. Michael had no idea that by sending Jerry Zimmerman out to California he would touch people all over the world.  Like Michael or not, he has a powerful message that people listen to and understand.

Michael found that he could be forgiven through Jesus.   The best part of the DVD is when Michael says that it was not until he surrendered his life to God that everything changed.

It has been many years now and Michael is alive and well.  He has never gone back to the life. The proof is there.

That is the message in a nutshell.  We can all try and force things to happen.  Do what we think is right.  It will not be until we surrender to God and do what we were put here to do that we will find peace and happiness.

The money and the power that comes with being a Mafia boss is nothing.  You would never be happy or have a good life. I'll say it again, in that life there are no happy endings.

You can't teach a dumb old dog new tricks.

Today I am going way back to the 1990’s in the San Fernando Valley.  I was sitting in the back office of a business known as Mid Valley Trading.  What they really traded I have no idea, but they did have a lot of stuff go through that warehouse. Mid Valley Trading was the home base of Jerry Zimmerman circa 1990’s.  Jerry Zimmerman a larger than life Jewish con man who was around the Colombo family through his friendship with Sonny Franzese.

In mafia circles Sonny Franzese is very well respected, young guys call him “The Rock.”  He is much more respected than John Gotti to those involved in the life.

So here I am, sitting at Jerry's desk when the phone rings, and it's a collect call from a federal institution.  It is Sonny Franzese, and he is looking for Jerry, but Jerry has gone out and left me manning the phones.  Sonny asks me to write down a name and he tells me this guy will be calling Jerry tomorrow.  I wrote the name on a desk blotter calendar and when Jerry came back I told him.  He rolled his eyes because every guy Sonny sent turned out to be some loser.  While I was sitting there the guy called and Jerry made an appointment to see him the next day.

The next day came and the guy showed up, and when he did I left.  I didn't like this guy the first minute I set eyes on him.  One thing, and it may be nothing to some people, but to me it set off alarms.  He wore blue jeans that were pressed with a crease in the front.  Who does that?

I went with him on a collection once, and I pushed in the door when the guy answered it.  This guy just yelled with his tough voice after I went inside.  I didn't like him and I tried to keep my distance.  

He tried to con me out of a grand, but I got him back by reversing it on him.  He made threats but couldn't do a thing.  He called a friend in Florida in Sonny’s crew, and cried to him over it.  The guy in turn asked me not to bust his head open.

Later he was present when we received the counterfeit traveler's checks that helped the FBI put together Operation Thin Crust in Las Vegas.

A week later he suckered Jimmy Caci into taking a ride with him.  He went inside an office and threatened a guy who cracked him in the head with a tape dispenser.  The guy was getting a pistol when Jimmy stopped him.  This loser had to be carried out by a 70 year old man with his head gushing blood.  

Unknown to Jimmy or any of us, the loser had been busted for first stealing some pirate cable boxes from a police evidence warehouse and then agreeing to sell them to federal agents in New Jersey.  He had flipped and began giving information to the FBI.  He went to Frankie's on Melrose and wore a wire on Joe Dente Sr., a Capo in the Genovese family who was a huge shylock.  Joe wanted nothing to do with him and told Jimmy Caci. Jimmy told this guy to stay away from him.

One night we all went to Frankie's on Melrose for dinner and Jimmy decided to stay at this loser's place. This loser went downstairs so the LAPD could come up and arrest Jimmy for the incident where this loser got beat up by the tape dispenser for threatening the guy in his office.  The victim even told them it was not Jimmy, but the LAPD hated Jimmy so they arrested him on that crap charge.

This is how I got a tape he made when he was speaking to the FBI.  He claims that he was not an informant, that instead he was conning the FBI, just using them for money.  Come on!  You do not con the FBI.  They have multiple sources and they know when it's bad information.  He told them he would be made.  The tape of him talking to the FBI is public on YouTube for all who wish to hear it and decide for themselves.  

This was years ago.  Since then, this loser was arrested in a case where he had guys fly into LA and get a rental car for them, then go to a ladies home and beat her and tie her up because they thought it was a drug stash.  It was not.  They all went away but this guy did not get much punishment, and nothing at all happened to his son, who was part of the conspiracy. How do you rent a car in your name for guys who are flying in to rob a woman and the FBI knows it but you do not get in trouble?  This guy gets out of prison and runs around town claiming he is a made guy conning the FBI.

Fast forward to last week.  I get a call from a friend and he tells me a story.

There is a movie being made. Some producers have a falling out and one of them wants some money back from the other producer. The producers with the cash in hand say kick rocks to the LA Producer.

Now enter another person who I hold in very low regard.  An aging “talent agent” who represents stars from years gone by that have seen better days.  This guy likes to go around and brag about his “mafia connections.”  He is the worst kind of person, a big coward that sits behind a desk and scares other cowards in the business with his big talk.  I always disliked guys like this agent - he reminds me of every Italian restaurant owner in every small city in America. They all think they are connected.  They talk big but they have no guts to do a thing themselves.  You cannot buy loyalty, you have to earn it.  Unless you are in a crew doing dirt you are nothing.  You are a cash machine for whatever guy you think you are “with.”

He tells the LA producer that he can get the money back for him, because he knows who to call.  He has the same pressed-jeans loser from the Jimmy Caci days call the producer.  Keep in mind this loser is now 70 years old with diabetes and could not fight his way out of a paper bag, even when he was young. He was no match for a tape dispenser. He was never in the same league as Jimmy Caci.  The loser tells the producer that for a cash payment he will get some guys to fly in from Florida and "get the money back for him."

This LA producer wonders if this might be the answer to his problem. Its a Federal crime, first of all, because he is sending guys across state lines to collect a debt.  Then, if they hurt the people, or worse, and it’s connected to you in any way?  It’s conspiracy, or possibly, murder, if someone dies.   Let’s say, best case scenario, they do get money back, or the other producer has a change of heart and pays what he owes after they have a “talk.” Now, these clowns who got involved will own this LA producer forever, as they can blackmail him on top of what he already paid.

Legitimate people that think they can dabble in the life are a joke. You are either a citizen or you are a gangster. You cannot be both.   People never learn and others keep doing the same thing.   I cannot understand why a 70 year old man would want to leave this world still doing the same stupid stuff he did when he was young.  He never learned from his time away.  He cannot see that he is just wasting his life.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Sonny Franzese: Still Going Strong

Sometimes you can read transcripts and get a feel for what is going on in a courtroom, and sometimes you can tell from what is going on that somebody is cooperating.  Sonny Franzese was on another level.   At one time, he was seated in the courtroom a wheelchair and and needed a fresh battery for his hearing aid.  An FBI Agent from the C-38 Colombo Squad was about to testify.

The FBI Agent started to speak about John Franzese Jr who is a proactive source for the FBI.  He agreed to wear a wire for the FBI against his father.  Sonny found out that his son John was working for the FBI in October 2006.  The FBI found out from another proactive source, Gaetano Fatato, who was wearing a wire when Sonny found out.  Gaetano wore a wire from 2005-2007 and made 242 recordings over 1000 hours for the FBI.

Sonny was very upset and worried that John might say something about Tommy Gioeli, who was the street boss of the Colombo Family.  He feared that it would make it look like he condoned what his son had done.  Sonny was so upset that he went to Gaetano’s home to speak to him right after he visited his parole officer. Sonny had thought that he would be picked up but now he felt the FBI was leaving him on the street to make it look like he was also cooperating.

Sonny told Gaetano that there may be a time when he would have to call in his son in and then they would... (Sonny then made a pistol with his finger) Gaetano agreed that he would help.

Sonny had asked him a year before if he would be willing to kill if asked and he agreed.

Sonny spent a lot of time with Gaetano and one time he started talking about the old days and he told him he had taken part in possibly 60 murders.  At the time, Sonny was the 92 year old acting Underboss of the Colombo Family.  He had never had real job in his life.  John Franzese Jr. would live to testify against his father and other Colombo figures, and told of flying around in a lear jet with tons of cash when his dad was younger.

In some ways I feel bad for Sonny because his own son John testified against him.  I knew John when he was in California and lived at a drug rehab place.  The guy was always a loser and was always supported by his family.  Sonny’s other son Michael had been a Capo in the Colombo Family, but had successfully walked away from the life.  Michael would later become a Christian speaker.

In other ways, I do not feel bad for Sonny because he lived his whole life dedicated to the Mafia.  He lost two daughters, really his whole family because of the Mafia.  He made a life out of shaking people down.  The saying on the street was “His pockets are sewn shut,” meaning he would never go into his pocket for anyone or anything.  He always used his connections or someone around him to pay for things, every meal, every tank of gas, every little thing.  

The Government blamed him for glamorizing the Mafia in the media because he was spoken about in at least 15 books as a Legendary Mobster.  The glamorization comes from those in Hollywood who have never held a pistol, never struck a person, yet feel the need to make up Hollywood versions of the truth.  The truth is, he’s an old man who has lost his family, who committed many violent crimes against others in the same small crime world, spent over 50 years in prison, retains the respect of some, but the love of few.  I once asked a former Colombo capo friend of mine, “Do you know of any happy endings in the mafia?”  He thought about it for a minute, looked at me, and said, “None.”  You can can glamorize Sonny all you want, but its not a happy ending or a happy life.

Sonny is 98 years old today and has a release date of 2017 when he will be 100 and still owe 3 years of parole.

Mafia Father, Informant Son.

John Franzese Jr better enjoy what he has in life now.  When the Government is finished using him on this case he will lose his bargaining chip.  I was an informant for 8 years, I did a job.  I never crossed into an area like John Franzese Jr.  John is really killing his father Sonny.  This is the end of Sonny's life no matter what the outcome.  John is sending him to an isolated cold death.  He could be out enjoying his family, having the comforts of old age.  Instead he will die in the cold prison hospital yet to be determined.  

I knew John when he was in California.  I still have his card from Odessa House, the sober living home he lived at in Santa Monica.  I went to his favorite place to eat with him.  The Bowling Alley.  I was on his TV show.  I can see why he would testify against Ori Spado.  Ori used to use John for his name and his father.  Then behind John's back he would call him a rat and show people Ganglandnews.  

I am sure Sonny Franzese just got old.  He was greedy.  Maybe he needed the money.  Sonny without a doubt knew Ori Spado was a rat.  I sent him the tape of Ori speaking to the FBI.  

Sonny knew John had turned him in to the FBI before.  He still trusted John to drive him around.  John was out taking money from people.  John could never be trusted.

One person who trusted John was his wife in California.  She sold her home and moved into an apartment with John.   She traveled to New York with her young son to meet Sonny.  They all had a very good time.  Then one day John was acting funny, very nervous and he was pacing back and forth in the garage.  John had hidden a duffel bag in the garage.  He told his wife he was okay.  She went back out and he was gone.  She has never heard from him again.  She even reported him missing.  He left her and her son alone.  

That is what the Mafia is all about.  Father against Son, Son against Father, Brother against Brother, Friend against Friend.

I am on the Deadliest Warrior on Spike TV on Tuesday night.  I am also on The Aftermath Show!

Kenji OC

Flipped: A Mobster tells All Kenny Kenji Gallo May 13th

The world changes everyday. Life goes on. The world stays the same for my former friends who are locked up. I wonder how Johnny Goggles Baudanza likes solitary? I bet Eddie Garofalo has slimmed down in MCC Brooklyn. Eddie likes the easy life. The question is how tall will he stand? Will he be like the Rock Sonny Franzese? Sonny's new words I have to die someplace!
Sonny has had no life. Two sons flipped, two daughters are dead and all his siblings are gone. He lost his home and all his clothes. He has a wife who hates him and yells at him. He has been locked down half his life. How is that a good life. The Feds keep charging the Colombo Family. It is not over yet. I bet Frankie Blue Eye's has a lot to say. I think Michael Persico has a lot to worry about. Eddie Garofalo brought me into the Persico's life, He brought in Steve Marcus and there maybe another informant there. What kind of life is that?

This week on May 13th on Discovery Channel they will show my documentary Flipped: A Mobster Tells All, Kenny Kenji Gallo
Then on June 8th The Deadliest Warrior is on Spike TV.

I am amazed at the people who are still drawn to the life. People never see that it is all smoke and mirrors. You have a bunch of guys who cannot make a living and a select few who live it up. The guys on the bottom do the work and end up getting most of the time.
The big question is will Tommy Tits Geoli flip? If he does what can he give the Feds?

Have a great week! Kenji OC

Mafia rules! Son rats on father, friends kill friends.

The new article in Ganglandnews this week is about John Franzese jr wearing a wire on his father. I knew John and I was even on his cable TV show. John was a drug addict, who always needed money for food and cigarette's. He never lived up to his fathers accomplishments in the Mafia or what his step brother Michael was able to do. He lived a life of petty crime, drug addiction and mooching. John informed on his own father the legendary Colombo Underboss Sonny Franzese. He gave the FBI information on his meetings and people he met. Sonny was blind in one eye from cataracts and he was approaching 90!
The funny thing is Sonny knew he was an informant and had told on him before. Sonny seems to have had really poor judgement in his later years. Ori Spado was an FBI informant and nobody can dispute that statement. Sonny told people he was not!
Ori used to run around LA with papers showing people that John was a rat. Meanwhile I used to hand out tapes of Ori speaking to the FBI! I would see Ori and John out and about Beverly Hills.
It is a crazy world, the world of the Mafia. I did wear a wire, never on a family member. The crazy thing about John? He was in California, sober with a new life. Then he just walked out and left it all behind.

Many people ask me how am I able to walk around LA and not be afraid. The truth is that these guys use your best friends or family to set you up. I am in the OC and that is not Brooklyn. The movies and TV shows show guys running into homes and restaurant's with machine guns blazing. In reality the Westcoast crips have better firepower.

I guess I will not take a page from John Baudanza or Craig marino and show up at a corner at night.
No sleeping after I open the door for Craig. No going to meetings in a Brooklyn basement.

They kill their friends.

http://www.king-la.com/featured/cool-hunts/real-fighter-mag-kenny-gallo/

Kenji OC