sonny franzese and marilyn monroe sonny franzese and marilyn monroe

On a side note sonny is so old, looking at the era he came up in he mustve seen it all, stories would be insane to listen to. Franzese told Fatato:[18]. He also became known as someone who would act ruthlessly on his bosses orders. And everybody wanted to get glory, said Ed McDonald, former chief of the federal Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn. To be sure, John Franzese wasnt leading a quiet life between his 1984 parole and his 2008 arrest. He recounted a time when he was starting out in music and grew weary of playing classical works. [20], Franzese's son, John Franzese Jr. became a government informant. Her very personal tribute to the president shocked many of the fifteen thousand people in the audience. 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. In time, according to FBI records, he acquired businesses, among them the Le Tique Disco and Decameron Room in Levittown, the Apple Orchard Restaurant in Roslyn and the El Elegante in Hicksville, all now defunct. Video You know what she told me? The comments below have not been moderated, By 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. His wife made clear her displeasure with him over the crooked path their son had taken before becoming an informant. I was just like a big hit with them, he said. 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 . But his real job was as a gangster, authorities said, and living the high life. The film is based on Joyce Carol Oates . [4] However, in May 2007, Franzese was again returned to prison for a parole violation. She closed by reading a note her Sonny Grandpa had written to her. He met her at the Latin Quarter, a Manhattan nightclub opened in 1942 by Lou Walters, Barbara Walterss father. I hope so man. 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. 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. He was released on parole in 1978 (why exactly he was released so early remains unclear). His son Michael, who initially followed his father into the mob, eventually left organized crime and became a born-again Christian and motivational speaker. George also said that the person she was really in love with at that moment was Sam Giancana.. informant caught Franzese on tape describing his favorite was to dispose of corpses: dismember them in a kiddie pool, then cook them down in a microwave before stuffing them into a garbage disposal. Sonny Franzese romantic affair with Marilyn Monroe? Franzese returned to his family in Brooklyn after his release in 2017 from the Federal Medical Center in Danvers, Mass., leading a quiet life far from the spotlight of his youth. Copyright 2023 Newsday. His father, eyes cast downward, said: Listen, it broke my heart. 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. Youre chasing me off the table., Sonny replied, I cant have sex with you. (on-sale March 29, 2022), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window). I liked him.. People would come there to see me, too, Sonny said. All rights reserved. I went out with a lot of handsome leading men . I told him, Grandpa, I really want to play rock and roll, the grandson recalled. There were no flower cars outside the funeral of 103-year-old John Sonny Franzesebut gospel music, funny stories, and eulogies from his loving grandkids made it much grander. Because its my principle.. It is believed it involved the relationship each had with Marilyn Monroe and that the Mafia was using the actress to blackmail the Kennedys. From breaking news to special features and documentaries, the NewsdayTV team is covering the issues that matter to you. newspaper But the business side of Franzese was darker: He once acknowledged killing 10 men during a 2006 chat with a mob informant, with other estimates of his mob murders running as high as 60. . Sonny met actress Marilyn Monroe, not at the Copa, but at the Stork Club, thanks to an introduction by Frank Costello. 09:05 GMT 29 Apr 2011. photo That had been before Cassatos time. He chuckled as he perused old photos of himself in the tabloids, looking both fierce and dapper in his cashmere overcoat. Within 30 minutes, Sonny came with the pocketbook with all the money, plus some money that didnt belong to them. r/Mafia. As for how many people John Franzese killed and disposed of this way, that remains uncertain. [34] After the mob allowed John to divorce his first wife, Grillo disappeared, and he married Capobianco. On August 20, 1962, about two weeks . [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. He is believed to have been elevated to caporegime or captain in the Colombo family in the mid 1950s by Profaci. Legendary New York mobster John "Sonny" Franzese, the former underboss of the Colombo crime family, has died at 103, according to TMZ. Other recordings were made with the help of informants. You should have asked, Did Frank Sinatra know Sonny Franzese?. Dont forget, I fought everybody.. Full head of hair - stand up guy. 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. The Rat Pack? Sonny met actress Marilyn Monroe, not at the Copa, but at the Stork Club, thanks to an introduction by Frank Costello. His self-discipline and wariness were legendary. She got around in high circles to the very end. People just liked me, you know what I mean? At 100 years old, mobster John (Sonny) Franzese the oldest inmate in the federal prison system was released Friday from a Massachusetts . Technology Notorious Colombo crime underboss John 'Sonny' Franzese Sr - known as 'The Nodfather' for falling asleep during one of his trials - has died at the age of 103. Did a lot of time. Health Dionne Warwick? Ukraine Maybe all the drugs he took. She was madly in love with him. On June 23, 2017, Franzese was released and returned home. The charges, ranging from vagrancy to rape, all followed a strikingly similar pattern they were either dismissed or he was acquitted. In 1970, when Franzese was 10 years old, his father began serving a 50-year sentence for conspiring to rob banks. And although Franzese is angry about what he sees as his unjust imprisonment, he expressed no bitterness I done the time.. . [10] After he was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1986, Michael was ultimately released in 1994 and retired to California in 1995. When I used to see him, I made out (like) I dont see him. [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. But despite the odds, that wasnt the case. Once again, John Franzese had beaten the system. 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.. Both the grandson and the granddaughter recalled Sonny Grandpa saying that you have to listen to gospel music. His son Michael, who initially followed his father into the crowd, eventually left organized crime and became a born-again Christian and motivational speaker. Franzese was born in Naples, Italy, to Carmine Franzese and Maria Corvola on February 6, 1917, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. You wouldnt help us. I said, Go and F yourself! And I walked away from him.. He laughed along with his companions; they were always kidding around. And then I would go and play handball. Franzese's career in organized crime began in the 1930s and spanned over eight decades. Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty Images. He was in his new parish when his administrative assistant had announced that a very handsome man had come to see him. 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. He loved his children. In addition to his interests in the entertainment industry, John Franzese also became notorious for his racketeering, fraud, and loansharking schemes. After he was sentenced to a 50-year stretch, Franzese offered only this prescient observation: Ill bet I do every one.. Before long, he asked her, Whos taking you home?. 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. See? Maurice said. 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. [20], On June 4, 2008, Franzese was indicted along with other Colombo mobsters on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, robbery, extortion, narcotics trafficking, and loansharking. Adapted from SONNY: The Last of the Old-Time Mafia Bosses, John Sonny Franzese, by S. J. Peddie. 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. He served as underboss of the Colombo family from 1963 until he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for orchestrating a string of bank robberies across the country in 1967. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Maurice recalled monthly visits to see Franzese at college, as prison is termed in the mob world. In 1931, Franzese was straightened out, or inducted into the mob, when he was just 14, his son John said. Despite the entreaties of FBI agents and a 50-year prison sentence for a crime he swears he didnt commit, Franzese did his time and never talked. 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. After being sentenced for a period of 50 years, Franzese offered only this premonitory remark: I bet I do everyone.. Sonny franzese and marilyn monroe 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. But his real job was like a gangster, authorities said, and living a better life. Corona Virus Franzese, widely admired and respected in the Mafia for sticking to his oath of omerta and keeping silent, was finally freed in 2017 at the age of 100. The first hint to someone not in the know only came when the priest, Monsignor David Cassato, offered a joke. Hoffa was buried somewhere very wet and deep, out of New York and Jersey. "Serious loss at any age," said his son Michael. . John "Sonny" Franzese Photos. 09:25 GMT 28 Apr 2011 If youre smart, Sonny told me, you can avoid some of those taxes, Cassato said, drawing laughter even from those who appeared to be feeling the loss most keenly. #SonnyFranzese #MarilynMornoe #shorts 48,628 views Aug 21, 2022 2.1K Dislike Share Save Michael Franzese 943K subscribers Check out. Active in the criminal underworld well into his 90s, Franzese was convicted on federal charges of running extortion rackets in New York in 2011. Asked where he sat when he went to the Copa, Sonny Franzesehandsome and charismatic underboss of the Colombo familysmiled and said, Wherever I wanted.. Not only was she ultimately proven right on both counts, but Franzese didnt even have to finish that prison term. Asked about that, Franzese said:Cant answer that. 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. In 2010, at the age of 93, he was indicted for attempting to shake down two night spots and a pizzeria. [26] Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 12 years, while Franzese's lawyer asked for leniency based on a variety of ailments, including partial blindness and deafness, gout, and heart and kidney problems. By turns avuncular and crude, he answered questions about his extraordinary life. The elder Franzese clearly did more than just cash in on the Shirelles. 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. Just doing the numbers and the only way sonny met Al wouldve been as a young pre teen kid. He had grown up with street guys and had had his own youthful run-in with the law. For one, investigators said that Franzese had largely been able to avoid murder charges because of his knack for making bodies disappear. She replied that her husband, Mickey Hargitay (who was 1955s Mr. Universe), would take her home. Theres an expression, theres two things in life youre sure of, right? Cassato said. No doubt about that.. John Sonny Franzese, in the center, is escorted to Elizabeth Street police station in New York after his arrest on a 43-count gambling charge. John Franzese was born on Feb. 6, 1917, in Naples, Italy, where his parents, Carmine and Maria (Corvola) Franzese, were visiting. He dressed like the gangsters of lore and was seen in the company of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. After the 93-year-old Sonny Franzese was convicted, he was sentenced to eight years in prison, where he was widely expected to die of old age. Nevertheless, murder wasnt the case that authorities were able to use to bring Franzese down. Al then lived in Miami after Alcatraz with his mind gone. Franzese is keenly aware of his place in the annals of crime as someone who over more than 75 years never turned in a confederate. Sandra Peddie has been a special writer on Newsday's investigations team since 1993. They wanted me to roll all the time, he said over a bowl of pasta e fagioliin the nursing home where he now lives. The more Im talking to her, I realize shes getting friendlier and friendlier. Sonny was not a man inclined to express regret or embarrassment about anything he did. 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 was back at Mount Carmel on Friday for the funeral. Daniel Bates In New York, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Beaming Harry and Meghan enjoy date night at private members' club, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' Then his friend said she really was coming to their table. Sonny Franzese (left) with famous boxer Rocky Graziano (center). [36] However, in 1971, shortly after his father had been sentenced to 50 years in prison for bank robbery, he decided to drop out of college to help his family earn money. "Listen, it broke my heart. He took the witness standnot because he was charged with a crimebut because he needed to testify against the wiseguy life he was desperate to escape. McShane writes for the New York Daily News. Taxes, a number of the roughly 75 mourners joined him in saying. Facts are facts his time is nearly up. In 1978, he was paroled, only to be sent back to prison five times for consorting with known felons, which apparently included almost every guy he knew besides Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. And you saved my parish and I want to thank you for that.. 1966. government When the show starts, over there, you know, in the Latin Quarter, the stage goes up, as the show starts, all the lights go out. Yeah, I seriously doubt it, then. Email Or Call (888) 847-9869. Gorgeous and glamorous women were inevitably drawn to Sonny, something he said he never fully understood. Screwed his mind up," Franzese said of his estranged son. Patrons of the club knew exactly who he was. Authorities believe he was responsible for the murders of 50 to 100 people. He was also a regular at the Copacabana and met such stars as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. on a frequent basis. He was linked by law enforcement to multimillion-dollar. Screwed his mind up.. He was, after all, Sonny Franzese. But he did it.. . Tops They went to the church for help, lacking even the subway fare to get home. The victim in that case was a one-eyed, hook-nosed hitman known as the Hawk, whose body was found in Jamaica Bay. What do you expect a guy to turn out to be? Sonny told them. The hell with him. Yet he was tried for murder only once, and was acquitted. Serious loss at any age, said his son Michael. A wise guy hosted the game, he explained, butI was the one running it.. When I was away, I would run five miles a day, every day, he said. Monroe and Mr Masters apparently flew back to Los Angeles where he dropped her off at her home around 9am on Sunday August 5 1962. He infers that this affair happened later on in time though. You had to remember it without writing anything down.. Sonny Franzese was ultimately convicted of the charges and, at the age of 94, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Franzese who now has a pacemaker, hearing aids and a broken hip had been tipped in the 1960s as a potential new Colombo boss. I liked Joe DiMaggio. He is from Italy. 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. Mr Platts, 60, a sales consultant from California, said: What if this trip George talks about was a last-ditch effort to get her to agree not to talk [about the Kennedys]? the news Marilyn Monroe with Frank Sinatra (right) at a casino. Ate a lot of crappy jail food. Then in 2010, at age 93, he was sentenced to eight more years in prison after being convicted of extorting the Hustler and Penthouse strip clubs in Manhattan and a pizzeria in Albertson. United States of America Colombo's legendary gangster gangster John "Sonny" Franzese, who was with Frank Sinatra and befriended Marilyn Monroe before a bank robbery conviction made him the nation's oldest federal inmate, died in a hospital of New York City. I couldnt believe it myself sometimes.. Though frail, he was all smiles. In prison, he said, I learned one thing: Determination is stronger than anything.. Jun 23, 2017 at 11:31 pm. /r/Mafia features stories, interviews, documentary and news articles about organized crime around the world. I did it on spite. Im feeling her ass. Franzese defies many mob stereotypes. Franzese also suggested wearing a hairnet during the murder so as to avoid leaving any hair strands at the crime scene that could be DNA analyzed. Franzese is said to have run a craps game and to have gone into loan sharking. John "Sonny" Franzese Sr. (Italian:[frantseze; -ese]; February 6, 1917 February 24, 2020) was an Italian-born American mobster who was a longtime member and former underboss of the Colombo crime family. He knew Frank Sinatra in his heyday, a CBS News article described the New York mobsters conviction. [25], With the help of Franzese Jr.'s testimony, the 93-year-old Franzese Sr., on January 14, 2011, was sentenced to eight years in prison for extorting two Manhattan strip clubs, running a loanshark operation and extorting a pizzeria on Long Island. His account of what happened that evening was telling because he actually expressed remorse about it. China I knew them all, he said. $1 Million - $5 Million. But he did it." Now, Franzese who once ran in the same crowd as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Dagmar lives a much quieter life. 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. But he built his fortune by theft and violence, and as far as I can see he's still making money off that lifestyle. 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. See, I used to play it right. 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. But neither Frankie Yale nor any other mob boss is known to have had a granddaughter stand before his coffin and recount how Sonny Grandpa gave her wise advice as she became what she termed a rising young business executive., He challenged me to exude confidence no matter what, she said. [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. Queens, New York. In 1963, Joe Valachi became the first big Mafia informant, testifying before Congress and giving America its first look inside the mob. Customers came to see the glittering roster of performers onstage, but were just as thrilled when they spotted celebrities, and mobsters, in the audience. He and three fellow Brooklyn vocalists made the send-off all the more unlike what anybody might expect. Legendary Colombo crime family mobster John "Sonny" Franzese, who hung out with Frank Sinatra and befriended Marilyn Monroe before a bank robbery conviction eventually made him the nation's. Franzeses commitment to the mobis so complete that he went along with contracts on the lives of two of his sons, who, unlike their father, cooperated with law enforcement, according to court records and one of the sons, Michael. He hung out with Sinatra and fellow Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. at the legendary Copacabana nightclub in New York. One of 16 children only 10 survived to adulthood he was the youngest son. John Franzese, known as Sonny, had been the federal prison systems oldest inmate and its only centenarian when he completed his last stint behind bars in 2017. It has been documented that Monroe was at Sinatras lodge two weekends before her death, but now it appears that she was called back for a one-to-one chat with Giancana, a friend of Sinatra. John (Sonny) Franzese is escorted down a staircase by armed officers at Nassau County police headquarters in Mineola on Jan.5, 1967, on his way to an arraignment. This man was a hardened criminal who needed to pay, regardless of his age. politics Got A Tip? All this from a man who was 91 at the time. Marilyn Monroe was supposedly at Cal Neva lodge July28,1962 Weekend - Sinatra got upset with her -he told body guard to throw her out - rumor has it Sam giancana was there (may of plug her by way of the tunnels?) It was a free-for-all, Sonny recalled. Both had . It's better to take that half-an-hour, an hour, to get rid of the body than it is to leave the body on the street. He and Sonny, though, had an uneasy relationship, as each jousted to assert dominance. [34][35] Franzese had four more children with Capobianco, who died in 2012. When Sinatra was dating actress Ava Gardner, she would come to the Copa to watch him perform. Following the 2008 arrest, it was the racketeering charges that stuck, allowing authorities to take Franzese to trial. 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.. When he was arrested, he gave his occupation variously as salesman, baker or self-employed tailor, according to police records. The elder Franzese was born in Sicily, moving with his family as a child to Brooklyn. Be the best.. Send it to The Daily Beasthere. Franzese was 21 when he was arrested for the first time on charges of assault in 1938. diets Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, with their vaudeville-style act of songs and jokes, were regulars onstage. She has won more than 50 journalism awards and was a finalist for the Public Service Pulitzer Prize in 2014. Sonny maybe met Al Capone but he said Sonny knew him and it's a pretty vague term. Al moved to Chicago in the 1920s then Alcatraz after in the early 30s. Once asked if he knew Sinatra, the gangster was quick to turn around the question: You asked the question the wrong way. Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty ImagesJohn Franzese as a free man in 2018. Cassato had come to the parish in 1985 and by all accounts was a major force in reviving the neighborhood before he was transferred to another part of Brooklyn in 2001. Sonny knew them wellHe was a good guy, Dean Martin. Once you appeared at the Copa, you could go anywhere in the world. information [34] Due to this, Michael had initially believed that he had been adopted by John after the disappearance of Grillo, who Michael thought to be his biological father. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover listed Franzese's prison term among the bureau's major achievements for 1967, along with sentences for extortion given to hoodlums Charles Battaglia of Tucson, Arizona, and Sam Battaglia of . He was deeplyin love with his second wife, Tina, whose volatile temper influenced the family dynamic as much as her husbands outlaw life. Your wifes a whore? Gardner was beautiful and tempestuous, and everyone knew Sinatra was hopelessly in love with her. 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. More posturing followed, and Jayne tried to gentle Sonny, telling him not to get too excited. . You have notifications blocked. It was the testimony of his own son (an accomplice-turned-informant) that sealed the prosecutions case. 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. women He said he likes to keep his wits about him and remember things.. [33], Franzese was married to a woman with whom he had three children. [24] He is the first son of a New York mobster to turn state's evidence and testify against his father. 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. 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. Today, Franzeseregularly uses a wheelchair to get around. Podell insisted that employees and customers alike adhere to a strict dress code. Anything you need, you call me, Cassato said. They didnt come there just to see the show . For all his murky past, he was a stickler for outward appearances. By one account, Franzese became a full-fledged made member of the Mafia at 14, the same year Al Capone went to prison, two years before the end of Prohibition forced organized crime to find primary sources of income other than bootlegging. The money flows in. He loved his children. Interview with Michael Franzese, Mafia Boss Get Michael's Business Book: https://amzn.to/3khW1gvGet Michael's Tell-ALL Book: https://amzn.to/39ZsSCaSubscribe. The only other person he mentioned that was there was [singer] Buddy Greco. Getting in wasnt easy. As for Franzeses own estimate, he killed too many to remember them all but was caught on tape saying, I killed a lot of guys youre not talking about four, five, six, ten.. He was 103 years old. He cared about his money and was particularly entrepreneurial in infiltrating legitimate businesses. Over the years, Franzese has listed his legitimate job as a tailor, baker and seller. He beat three of the cases the homicide and home invasion trials ended in acquittal, and the bookmaking case was resolved with a plea to a misdemeanor but he was convicted of a conspiracy to rob banks across the country and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.