Original subtitles

Salvatore Polsi: In the 70s we were all wannabes,

we did the grunt work for the mob bosses or

the upper echelon mob guys.

And those mobsters had power in those days.

If they gave you an assignment you couldn't

refuse and you had to do it.

Francis Lewis Boulevard.

Walk into the bank, real quiet.

Bank Robber: Everybody down!

Bank Robber 2: Everybody down!

Hit the floor!

[screams].

Salvatore Polsi: I run into the bank and

vault right over the top of the counter.

And yell, "Back up!"

And all the tellers back up.

And I go into each drawer and

start scooping the money out.

My favorite trademark was to carry a bag with me,

I'd have two bags in my pockets and they would be

little plastic bags and it said, "I Love New York."

I noticed every head teller would have

a key chain with keys.

And I said to the head teller,

"Into the vault!"

"Let's go, into the vault.

Right now, go!"

And she hesitated and she began to urinate

on the floor right in front of me.

Now I kind of felt bad that I made her do that,

but I, I don't have time for this, "To the vault!"

She went to the vault, she opened up the door,

she opened up a couple of drawers,

grabbed a whole bunch of stacks of money.

We got into the car, we got back to the safe house

and we dumped all the money on the bed.

That was like one of the fun moments,

dumping the money on the bed.

So I always robbed the banks with the same bag,

"I Love New York," bag.

Eventually when I got busted they had reports

and they said, "We know how many banks you did,

you always carried that little white bag,"

you know.

It was a trademark of a criminal!

I just couldn't get away from it, you know!

NARRATOR: IT'S 1978 AND THE UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT IS AT WAR WITH A HIDDEN EMPIRE.

Newswoman: Mob warfare is on the rise all across the

streets of New York City.

In Brooklyn, a low-level mobster is

shot dead in broad daylight.

NARRATOR: A NETWORK OF GANGSTERS WHO LiVE BY

A CODE OF CRIME, VIOLENCE AND POWER.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS STRUGGLE ARE TWO MEN,

MICHAEL FRANZESE, A MADE MAN IN THE COLOMBO

CRIME FAMILY; THE OTHER JOE PISTONE,

AN UNDERCOVER FBI AGENT, BOTH TRYING TO CLIMB THE

LADDER AND SURVIVE IN THE AMERICAN MOB.

THEY, ALONG WITH THEIR COMPATRIOTS ON BOTH SIDES

OF THE LAW, ARE WITNESSES TO THIS SECRET HISTORY,

STEPPING FORWARD NOW TO TELL THEIR

STORIES FIRST HAND.

A FEW STAY IN THE SHADOWS FOR REASONS OF PERSONAL

SAFETY, FEARING A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION THAT REIGNED

UNCHALLENGED IN THE UNITED STATES UNTIL RECENT TIMES.

AND IN THE 1970S THEY WERE UNTOUCHABLE.

John Marks: What was the view on organized

crime when you joined the Bureau?

Steve Salmieri: Back then it was a

very closed society.

Organized crime knew what police could

or couldn't do.

Jim Walden: There were crews within families

that were literally untouched, uh,

by law enforcement for decades.

NARRATOR: IN 1978, FIVE CRIME FAMILIES RULE

NEW YORK CITY AND THROUGH IT,

MOST OF THE COUNTRY.

THE FAMILIES GO BY THE NAMES OF THEIR BEST KNOWN

LEADERS: GAMBINO, COLOMBO, BONANNO,

GENOVESE AND LUCCHESE.

RIGHT IN THEIR MIDST HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IS

AN UNDERCOVER AGENT NAMED JOE PISTONE.

HE'S BEEN LIVING AMONG THE COLOMBO FAMILY FOR THE

LAST YEAR UNDER THE ALIAS DONNIE BRASCO.

Joe Pistone: When I first started,

the FBI didn't think there was a mafia.

[laughs].

NARRATOR: PISTONE LEAVES THE COLOMBO FAMILY LOOKING

FOR A DEEPER WAY INTO THE AMERICAN MOB AND NOW HE'S

GOT A SHOT AT INFILTRATING ANOTHER OF

THE FIVE FAMILIES, THE BONANNOS.

Edward McDonald: The Bonanno family controlled

gambling and loansharking back in the day but those

days were over and they had to find other

ways of making money.

Jim Walden: The Bonanno family can be fairly

characterized as ground breakers when it came

to drug trafficking.

Fat Sal Colombo: They would smoke drugs,

rob drug dealers and they were wild guys.

Jim Walden: The Bonanno's were really,

at this period of time, the worst.

NARRATOR: NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY,

THANKS TO A SINGLE UNDERCOVER AGENT,

THE FBI HAS A SHOT AT TAKING DOWN

AN ENTIRE FAMILY.

Joseph Coffey: Joe Pistone was an FBI agent

who was pretty effective as an undercover.

And he was recruited by the FBI to get into the

Bonanno family, which he did by going to a going

to a guy named Lefty Guns Ruggiero.

Joe Pistone: Lefty was a, a 24/7 gangster.

He grew up in the life.

He had relatives that were in the life.

He was a tough guy to be around.

Selwyn Raab: If you were in Joe Pistone's shoes,

you had to know that every second that you were

dealing with these mafia guys might be

your last moment on earth.

One mistake, the slightest error,

you're through.

They never hesitate to kill.

Joe Pistone: When you're with these guys

you have to blend in.

They have to, you have to be believable.

James Kossler: He had convinced them that he

was a very adequate and very good jewel thief.

Joe Pistone: I would bring around some diamonds,

I'd bring around watches you know,

all stuff that was confiscated

by the federal government.

After a while, Lefty really becomes

comfortable with me.

And he'd be telling me about who's the boss

of this family, the boss of that family.

I'm gathering great intelligence information.

He's like an encyclopedia of the mob.

Rudolph Giuliani: Law enforcement work

requires infiltration.

You cannot do all of it through wiretaps.

You can't do all of it through, uh,

through telephone intercepts.

You can't do all of it through bugs.

Because you don't know what to wiretap.

Lefty Ruggiero: What happened last night?

Donnie Brasco: What?

I called, you weren't out there.

I talked to Sonny.

I called the house, nobody answered.

Lefty Ruggiero: Let me tell you something,

Donnie, the man never told me nothing.

He's playing games with me.

He knows that I'm.

Selwyn Raab: It's a real goldmine for the FBI.

Now they have an agent who is really in

the middle of a mafia family.

NARRATOR: SOON PISTONE,

UNDER THE ALIAS DONNIE BRASCO

AND RUGGIERO HATCH A SCHEME TOGETHER.

Joe Pistone: Lefty always said he was interested in

expanding out of New York.

NARRATOR: FORTUNATELY, THE FBI'S

ALREADY GOT A GREAT FRONT.

AN UNDERCOVER OPERATION IN A FLORIDA

NIGHTCLUB CALLED THE KING'S COURT.

Joe Pistone: So we had a night club going in

Florida and because he knew that I was

the kind of guy that could be trusted,

he put me in charge there.

NARRATOR: ANOTHER FBI AGENT, STEVE SALMIERI,

IS ALREADY WORKING UNDERCOVER IN THE CLUB.

Steve Salmieri: The club was set up

because this was a venue they could have and

they could see that the money could be made.

So Joe came down and, uh, you know,

it really solidified him with the Bonanno family.

NARRATOR: THAT NIGHT CLUB BECOMES THE BAIT THAT

LURES LEFTY AND THE BONANNOS INTO A TRAP.

Joe Pistone: Our operation was confined

to a very limited number of individuals.

So agents would be taking photographs,

they're taking pictures you know,

on surveillance and I'm on a lot of the surveillance

and the agents didn't know Donnie Brasco

was really an FBI agent.

NARRATOR: OPERATION DONNIE BRASCO IS GARNERING

RESULTS IN FLORIDA.

BUT BACK IN NEW YORK A MAFIA POWER STRUGGLE IS

ABOUT TO CHANGE THE GAME DRAMATICALLY

FOR JOE PISTONE.

THE PROBLEM: AN AMBITIOUS BONANNO BOSS

NAMED CARMINE GALANTE.

News Reporter: Galante looked more like

a grandfather than a godfather as he walked

his dog each morning in Greenwich Village.

But his real interests embrace gambling,

prostitution, loansharking and most of all,

heroin and other drugs.

Edward McDonald: Carmine Galante,

who got out of prison after a long prison

sentence for narcotics trafficking tried to

muscle in and take control over the

Bonanno crime family.

Joe Pistone: He controlled all the

importation of drugs into the US.

And Galante wouldn't share any of this with

any of the other families.

NARRATOR: SHARING IS A GOLDEN RULE AMONG THE

MAFIA'S FIVE FAMILIES AND BOSSES WHO DON'T

SHARE GET IN TROUBLE WITH THE COMMISSION,

THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE MAFIA WHICH HOLDS THE

POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH OVER ALL OTHER MOBSTERS,

INCLUDING UPSTART BOSSES.

Joe Pistone: So the other families got together

and they decided he's got to go.

He's gotta go.

Michael Chertoff: Carmine Galante,

he's a regular patron at a restaurant in

Brooklyn called Joe and Mary's Restaurant.

And he goes sit out in the in the patio in

the back with his bodyguards.

Joseph Coffey: It was August, hot summer day.

Just sitting there, he's having pasta with

his friends, they're holding a conversation.

Michael Chertoff: Car pulls up in front of the

restaurant and there are four people in the car.

One is the driver who stays with the car.

The other three go through the restaurant,

they know exactly where Galante's gonna be.

Joseph Coffey: He sits there,

puts a cigar in his mouth.

Michael Chertoff: They walk into the patio.

[gunshots]

Joseph Coffey: They blow him over the chair

into the tomato patch.

News Reporter: Galante was having lunch in the

courtyard of an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn

when 5 men entered with automatic rifles and

shotguns and opened fire.

Reporter: Did your uncle say who he was

gonna eat lunch with today?

Man: No, no, he stopped every day for coffee.

Reporter: He stopped in here every day?

Man: He don't know nothing.

Joseph Coffey: When I get there they body's still

there because I get there pretty quick and there's

one laying in the tomato patch with a cigar

in his mouth and a Zippo lighter in his hand.

I look at it, it's Carmine Galante.

It was an iconic picture because

it went all over the world.

My friends in Washington said Joe Coffey put that

cigar in his mouth 'cause they, you know,

I had a sense of humor, so did he and of course

I didn't do it but I let everybody think I did.

NARRATOR: DOWN IN FLORIDA JOE PISTONE GETS

A CALL FROM NEW YORK.

Joe Pistone: I was in Florida looking out after

the club down there and I called Lefty because

I had to call him every day.

He says, "Have you seen the New York papers?"

And I said I haven't seen 'em yet.

He said, "Well go buy the New York papers

then call me back."

I buy the New York paper and there's the picture.

I knew from Lefty that Galante didn't have a lot

of admirers, but I never had any indication that

they were gonna kill him.

So I call him back and I said I got the paper,

he said, "You read it?"

I said, "Yeah."

He said, "Well things are gonna change."

"They killed Galante,

they want you to come back to New York."

NARRATOR: GALANTE'S EXECUTION

SHAKES UP THE BONANNO FAMILY.

IN THE UNSTABLE NEW ORDER, IMPRISONED MOBSTER NAMED

RUSTY RASTELLI BECOMES THE BOSS AND A HARD

CASE NAMED SONNY BLACK BECOMES A CAPTAIN.

LEFTY GETS REASSIGNED TO WORK UNDER SONNY BLACK

AND ALONG FOR THE RIDE IS DONNIE BRASCO.

Selwyn Raab: Pistone is a godsend.

He's more than just a wannabe.

He's got Lefty Ruggiero on his side who's bringing

him in to meet Capos like Sonny Black Napolitano.

Joe Pistone: Sonny Black was a tough guy,

but you can joke with him.

Plus he wanted to keep earning money and

the undercover operation we had in Florida,

he made a lot of money.

NARRATOR: PISTONE NOW GETS CLOSE TO SONNY BLACK,

WHO'S FORTUNES IN THE BONANNO FAMILY ARE RISING,

THANKS IN PART TO THE FLORIDA CLUB.

Selwyn Raab: He's inside a capo's counsel!

A capo is talking to him, dealing with him,

telling him secrets.

He's at third base.

Joe Pistone: I like Sonny Black.

I mean, how could you have comfortable

conversation with him, uh, if you really don't like him?

You know, I used to spend a lot of time with him

and I used to sleep at his apartment.

I can remember telling this story my FBI superiors

and they couldn't believe it.

I mean, you know, he slept in the bedroom,

I slept on his couch, we'd get up in the morning

and we'd sit around in our underwear.

And here's me, an undercover FBI agent

and one of the most powerful captains of the

Bonanno family sitting there drinking coffee,

having a hard roll with butter and watching

cartoons on television.

You never see that in the movies.

NARRATOR: BUT THAT FRIENDSHIP WITH

SONNY BLACK IS ABOUT TO LEAD PISTONE

STRAIGHT TO COLD BLOODED MURDER.

Both: [laughing].

NARRATOR: BY 1979, FBI UNDERCOVER AGENT

JOE PISTONE HAS ACHIEVED SOMETHING NO FED

HAD EVER DONE, PENETRATING ONE OF THE

MOB'S MOST NOTORIOUS FAMILIES,

THE BONANNO FAMILY.

THE KEY TO HIS SUCCESS, A POWERFUL BONANNO CAPTAIN

NAMED SONNY BLACK.

Joe Pistone: The relationship with Sonny

really propelled the operation.

Because Sonny really becomes

comfortable with me.

Sonny and Lefty would have conversations and

not cut me out.

They'd tell me about what's going on.

Edward McDonald: After the execution

of Carmine Galante,

three capos of the Bonanno crime family

tried to muscle in and take control

over the family.

Selwyn Raab: And it's open warfare.

They're looking to kill each other.

Joe Pistone: Three captains wanted to

take over the family.

Sonny "Red" Indelicato, Phil "Lucky" Giaccone

and Dominick Trinchera.

Sonny Black and uh, Joey Massino call a

sit down to iron out their differences.

NARRATOR: BUT THERE IS NO IRONING OUT

THESE DIFFERENCES.

IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER.

Edward McDonald: What was supposed to be a sit down,

was a trap, an ambush.

Joe Massino was there.

He tackles, uh, Sonny "Red" Indelicato.

Shoots him in the head.

The other two capos are also killed.

NARRATOR: THE THREE RENEGADE CAPOS ARE DEAD,

BUT THERE'S A LOOSE END.

Steve Salmieri: Sonny's crew killed Sonny Red

and that pissed people.

So they were looking to kill each other

and Joe's in the middle.

NARRATOR: WHAT FOLLOWS IS A CONVERSATION

THAT NO FBI AGENT HAS EVER HAD BEFORE,

PROOF POSITIVE THAT JOE PISTONE

HAS PULLED OFF ONE OF THE GREATEST

DECEPTIONS IN LAW ENFORCEMENT HISTORY,

SONNY BLACK INVITES HIM TO JOIN THE CLUB.

Joe Pistone: Sonny tells me, you know,

"I already proposed you for membership

in the family."

"You're gonna get made in December."

He tells me, you know, "We took care of those guys."

He said, "One got away."

And I said "Who?"

He says, "Bruno Indelicato."

He said, "I'm giving you the contract to

get Bruno Indelicato."

Now, as an FBI agent, you can't get involved

in acts of violence, unless you're protecting

yourself or protecting a citizen.

And one of the rules in mafia is that when you get

a contract, if you turn it down you're

gonna get killed.

So, when I was told, "You got the contract to

kill Bruno Indelicato," I said, "Okay, Sonny,

where do you think he is?"

Sonny Black: Come on, take a walk.

NARRATOR: THE HUNT IS ON FOR BRUNO INDELICATO.

IF PISTONE FINDS AND KILLS HIM,

HE'S GOING TO BECOME A MADE MAN,

EARNING HIS PLACE IN THE BONANNO FAMILY WITH BLOOD.

BUT OVER IN THE COLOMBO FAMILY,

MICHAEL FRANZESE IS EARNING HIS PLACE

WITH COLD HARD CASH.

John Marks: Did you ever have a nickname?

Michael Franzese: You know, not till

later on when the media tagged me as being

the Yuppie Don, which I hated.

But, uh, nobody would call me that to my face.

I tell 'em, "Don't ever say that to me,

I don't like it," you know?

It reminded me of California and all these

kind of weird guys out there in suits.

Selwyn Raab: Michael Franzese was an

immense earner for the Colombo family.

And a guy who knew how to really deal

with modern day capitalism.

He was a new breed.

Michael Franzese: All right, fellas, let's go.

Reporter: This handsome, young mafia prince from

New York is Michael Franzese,

son of legendary mafia godfather.

Edward McDonald: Michael Franzese's father

was Sonny Franzese.

He was a legendary figure in the world of

organized crime, very powerful figure

in the Colombo crime family.

Michael Franzese: You know, my dad he

just had that presence about him

that people just really treated him well.

And that's, you know, for a young guy looking

up to your father that's who I want to emulate.

That's how I want to be in my life.

NARRATOR: AND ONE WAY FRANZESE HOPES TO MAKE

MONEY IS CLASSIC MOB: THROUGH THE LABOR UNIONS.

Michael Franzese: I had some very

lucrative situations with unions.

One of them, in a, a major contracting construction

job with a major developer in, um, in Queens.

And this is a major job, it was the biggest co-op

conversion in the country at that time.

And one of the guys in there, uh,

happened to be the brother of a girl that

I was dating at one time.

And he got in touch with me and he said,

"Mike, I've got this job," and he said,

"The union is really harping on us," he said,

"You think you can help out?"

I said yeah.

So um, I go and meet the labor union guy.

And I said, "You realized what we got here, right?"

"Biggest job in the country."

I said, "Let's work this thing."

And he said, "Great."

So we made a deal to keep the union out of there

and we charged the developer so much

for every apartment that he converted.

We hired all the trades, we did everything and we

made a ton of money both legitimately

and through the unions.

And we whacked it up among everybody.

John Marks: Can I ask you, the term

"whack it up," is that the same as "kick it up?"

Michael Franzese: Whack it up, divide it up,

cut it up, share it, yeah, that's a street term.

You never said share it.

It's whack.

Whack has different forms of uh, different uses,

I would say.

NARRATOR: FRANZESE IS PART OF A NEW GENERATION

OF GANGSTERS RISING UP THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE

AMERICAN MOB IN THE LATE 1970S.

ANOTHER ONE IS A GUY NAMED JOHN GOTTI,

A SMALL TIME HOOD FROM QUEENS LOOKING TO MAKE A

NAME FOR HIMSELF AND LATCH ON TO ONE

OF THE FIVE FAMILIES.

Joseph Coffey: I was involved in various

investigations of John Gotti through the years,

from the time when he was a nothing guy.

Salvatore Polsi: In the '70s, we were

all wannabes, even John Gotti was a

wannabe in the '70s.

NARRATOR: BETWEEN SCORES GOTTI KILLS

TIME WITH OTHER MOB WANNABES,

SMOKING, DRINKING, PLAYING CARDS.

Salvatore Polsi: We would be playing poker,

his cigar would be down, he would just hold his

cards and he wanted to play.

And every once in a while when he got a good hand,

this long De Nobili cigar would go up in the air

and I would notice!

And no one spotted it!

And the minute we saw that cigar go up,

we were out the door!

We threw our hand in!

And he could never figure out what he did.

He was, he had a tell.

And he was a wild gambler.

And he would just lose every night!

NARRATOR: RUMORS START TO SPREAD OF AN

OUTSIZED PERSONALITY IN QUEENS.

Fat Sal Colombo: And all of a sudden you started

hearing this John Gotti, John Gotti.

John Gotti this, John Gotti that.

We used to say who the (bleep) is

this John Gotti?

I ain't never heard of him.

Salvatore Polsi: He was a wild and crazy

flamboyant personality, high energy, charismatic.

Joseph Coffey: He had a two-prong attack

to become a made guy.

In the mafia you're made either one of two ways,

you're an earner or you do hits for them.

If you do both, you're a huge made guy.

He was.

NARRATOR: IT'S THE BEGINNING OF A LEGENDARY

CAREER IN THE AMERICAN MOB.

NARRATOR: IN THE LATE 1970S,

A NEW GENERATION OF GANGSTERS IS RISING UP

THROUGH THE RANKS OF THE AMERICAN MOB.

AMONG THEM IS A GUY NAMED JOHN GOTTI.

Joseph Coffey: John Gotti was a low level gangster

who was like banned from the racetracks because

he was a mafia figure.

He was involved in hijacking trailer trucks

coming out of the airport,

plus he wouldn't hesitate to kill somebody.

Michael Franzese: I had my first business

encounter with John Gotti.

It wasn't a very pleasant experience.

Two brothers came to me and they had a

guy that had a flea market in Brooklyn.

This guy's partner was dealing drugs and

it was disruptive to the market.

So I intercede, I go meet with him and we make a,

an arrangement and I chase his partner out.

Two weeks later, uh John calls me up, John Gotti.

Yeah, hello?

He says, "Mike, I need to see you."

I said, "Okay."

I go meet him and he says,

"That flea market in Brooklyn."

"Yeah?"

He says, "The guy you chased out."

"Yeah," I said.

"He's with me."

I say, "John, come on you know he just ran to you."

"No, no, I know the guy a long time."

John wasn't pulling out and

I wasn't gonna give up.

There's no way John Gotti would walk away

from an argument with anybody,

including himself thinking that he lost.

So I said "John there's no way I wanna;

this guy's a drug addict, I don't want

to be around him."

I said "I'm gonna buy you guys out,

name your price."

And it's like I knew it.

He said, "You don't buy me out, I buy you out."

And that's what happened.

He bought me out, gave me the money and

I gave my guy money, we kept some and

he took the market and within 3 months they closed.

It was over.

So that was my first business

encounter with Gotti.

Joseph Coffey: John Gotti was a thug.

IQ of maybe a mothball, but a thug.

NARRATOR: BUT COLOMBO FAMILY MEMBER

MICHAEL FRANZESE IS ALSO MAKING A NAME FOR

HIMSELF AS AN EARNER AMONG EARNERS.

HE BRINGS IN BIG SCORES THAT ATTRACT ATTENTION

THROUGHOUT THE FIVE FAMILIES OF

THE AMERICAN MOB.

BUT NOTHING SO FAR COMPARES TO THE SCAM

HE'S ABOUT TO PULL OFF.

Michael Franzese: This guy came to me and

he tells me, he says, "Look, we can make some money,

I've got kind of a scheme."

"I have gas stations."

So I said, "Alright, let's start a new company,"

I says and "Show me how this thing works

and I'll see if I want to pursue it."

I'll never forget, a week or two later,

this guy came to me and he's holding a box.

And he used to bring me meat, he was a butcher.

He walks in, I says, "What are we having a party?

What we're gonna do with all this meat?"

And he says, "Hey chief, it ain't meat."

And he goes in and he puts it on the

kitchen table and he opens it up.

He said, "First week's take in the gas business."

$380,000 in cash.

Got my attention, right?

Selwyn Raab: Michael Franzese was an immense

earner for the Colombo family and

his biggest coup was something known as the

"Daisy Chain Gasoline Scam."

What happened was,

New York State, in the 1970s,

decided to use a different way of collecting

gasoline excise taxes every year.

Michael Franzese: At that time,

whoever owned the gas station was responsible

to pay the tax on every gallon of gasoline that

they bought and pumped.

Selwyn Raab: And somebody hit upon the

idea that this was stupid.

R. Lindley Devecchio: So the legislature in New York

said, "Well let's make distributors responsible

for paying the taxes or whatever they

want to levy."

NARRATOR: BUT THE GAS COMPANIES ARE REQUIRED TO

PAY THE TAX ON THE HONOR SYSTEM.

SO FRANZESE FIGURES OUT ALL HE HAS TO DO IS

SET UP DUMMY COMPANIES THAT DON'T PAY.

IT TAKES MONTHS FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO FIGURE OUT

THE SCAM AND COLLECT AND BY THAT TIME THE

DUMMY COMPANIES ARE LONG GONE.

R. Lindley Devecchio: It was a fairly complicated

scheme that involved a lot of dummy corporations,

which made it difficult to trace back

the original source, that being Franzese.

Edward McDonald: And somewhere along the line,

a stamp would come out and would say "Tax Paid."

And it was very difficult to establish just,

you know, which company was saying that

they paid the tax.

NARRATOR: THAT'S BECAUSE NO COMPANY IS

PAYING THE TAX.

ALL OF THE MONEY IS GOING INTO

MICHAEL FRANZESE'S POCKETS.

Michael Franzese: I had 18 licensed companies.

All of them were operating um out of Panama,

so there was no trail back to any of us.

Selwyn Raab: The gasoline tax scam has to go down in

history as one of the most successful coups

ever pulled by the mafia.

Michael Franzese: I was making a lot of

money in the gas business.

Millions of dollars a week.

I had a jet plane, I had a helicopter,

I had all the money I wanted,

I did whatever I wanted to do.

And word was getting out on the street

that even though I was handing in millions,

that I was making billions.

News Reporter: The so-called "Franzese Group,"

a new mafia organization that federal

prosecutors say could be behind the mob's theft.

Michael Franzese: A story came out,

I believe in News Day again,

that I was becoming powerful enough to break

away from the Colombos and start my own family.

News Reporter: Said to be behind the mobs theft of

hundreds of millions of dollars in

gasoline taxes in New York.

Michael Franzese: My dad then got out on parole.

NARRATOR: FRANZESE'S FATHER, SONNY,

IS RELEASED FROM PRISON AFTER SERVING TIME

FOR MASTERMINDING A SERIES OF BANK ROBBERIES.

BUT HE'S ALSO RUMORED TO BE A COLD BLOODED KILLER,

AN ACCUSATION FAMILIAR TO HIS SON.

Michael Franzese: Law enforcement said he killed

at least 30 people, back then, now I think it's 60,

but as far as a dad, he was dad for me.

I loved him.

I idolized my dad.

He was everything that I thought a man's

man should be.

Every child wants a reason to love their parents.

You have to give them strong reasons not to love

their parents and I don't have any reason

not to love mine, regardless of anything.

The word gets out on the street I'm becoming a

target of law enforcement and all of the sudden the

two Franzeses together, the son is making tons

of money, guys start to think about it.

You know, a double-edged sword.

Even my own father.

I was told he put a contract on me.

NARRATOR: BY THE EARLY 1980S,

COLOMBO CAPTAIN MICHAEL FRANZESE'S SUCCESS

IN GAS TAX SCAMS HAS EARNED HIM AND THE

COLOMBO FAMILY MILLIONS.

BUT IN THE AMERICAN MOB, SUCCESS CAN BE AS

DANGEROUS AS FAILURE, ESPECIALLY IF THE MOB

THINKS YOU'RE SKIMMING THE TAKE.

SO WHEN MICHAEL'S FATHER, THE LEGENDARY GANGSTER

SONNY FRANZESE, CALLS HIM, HE STARTS TO SWEAT.

Michael Franzese: One night I get uh,

a call from my dad and he said, "I gotta see ya."

I said, "Okay."

He was on parole so I go to his house.

How ya doin, Pop?

We're in the driveway of his house and he said,

"Uh Junior wants to see us tonight."

I said, "Okay, what time do you want me

to pick you up?"

He said, "Well, they want to do this differently,

they want me to come in first and they

want you to come in second."

I said, "Why would we do that?"

He says, "Well this is what they want."

I said, "We're not gonna do that, dad."

You're crazy if you're gonna do it.

I'm not doing it.

Finally, I remember, I threw my hands up,

we're in the drive way.

I said, "Alright Dad, I've been listening to you

all my life," and I said, "I don't like it but

if this is what you want we'll do it."

So I leave and then Jimmy Angelina calls me and he

tells me to meet him on uh, on 18th Avenue.

Jimmy was a captain too at the time,

I knew Jimmy all my life.

I get in the car and there's a guy sitting in

the back that I didn't know and

uh he don't introduce me.

And um, you know at that point I was just

really thinking something's really bad here.

It was a house in Brooklyn that we were going to.

I get out of the car and I start walking.

And Jimmy gets behind me.

And the other guy is behind him.

Now this is bad set up.

And I'll be honest with you,

I was getting really nervous.

I wasn't a religious guy anyway but I started

to pray because I really thought that I'm dead.

Look, I been in the life quite a while.

I know that you get walked into a room by your

best friend, you don't walk out again.

So um, door opens, I get in there.

A couple of the guys are there and um,

they start grilling me about the gas business and

the money and all of this and that

and everything else.

And they're trying to make an impression

on me that you know I'm still the boss,

don't think you can get away with anything.

Without saying it, they said it.

I got it.

NARRATOR: THE MEETING ENDS AND

TO FRANZESE'S SURPRISE, HE'S STILL ALIVE.

Michael Franzese: So now Jimmy's gonna

drive me back.

I said goodbye to everybody.

We get in the car.

I'm ready to really open up on him.

I was really upset with him.

He didn't tell me anything.

So I get in the car and I say,

"I know you all my life.

You don't prepare me?

You don't tell me anything that's going on?"

And uh, he said, "I'm gonna tell you

something Michael."

He says, "You're father was in there

before you tonight.

He didn't help you one bit.

You were on your own in there."

And it really affected me in a bad way.

And I said, "Man, I can't trust my own father here."

I kind of felt the walls closing in on

me at that point.

He threw me under the bus in that

he didn't defend me.

And that's almost as bad as indicting me, you know?

As saying, "He did it."

And I said, "This money that I'm making,

what do I do?"

"Do I stop?"

This is like a double-edged sword for me.

And um, I, I didn't have an answer.

I didn't have a solution.

And I said, "I'm just going to keep

doing what I'm doing."

NARRATOR: WHILE COLOMBO CAPTAIN MICHAEL FRANZESE

STRUGGLES WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS

GAS SCAM, ACROSS TOWN IN BROOKLYN,

UNDERCOVER AGENT JOE PISTONE IS ABOUT TO BECOME

AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE BONANNO FAMILY,

AN ORGANIZATION WHO MAKE THEIR MONEY NOT

JUST FROM EXTORTION AND LOANSHARKING, BUT DRUGS.

UNDER THE ALIAS "DONNIE BRASCO,"

HE'S PENETRATED THE ORGANIZATION DEEPER THAN

ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER IN HISTORY.

HE'S ABOUT TO BECOME A MADE MAN, BUT FIRST,

TO PROVE HIMSELF, HE MUST KILL.

Joe Pistone: When I was told,

you got the contract to kill Bruno Indelicato,

I accepted it because what am I gonna say?

No, I don't want to do it?

I can't do it?

But we had a plan in place, you know.

Sonny sent me looking for him.

Sonny Black: Come on, take a walk.

Joe Pistone: If I spotted him I called the FBI

and they come and snatch him and we'd stage a hit.

Or if they found him, they'd snatch him

and we'd stage a hit.

Selwyn Raab: The FBI is faced with

an incredible dilemma.

What are they gonna do if

Joe Pistone, AKA Donnie Brasco,

is asked to go along on a hit?

That's a no-no.

They can't do it.

But will it blow his cover?

And the slightest suspicion could lead to

Donnie Brasco's death.

NARRATOR: SO THE FBI MAKES A DECISION.

James Kossler: Joe was not allowed to become a

member of La Cosa Nostra.

The bureau decided that would not be in

the best interest of him or the bureau,

um and so we pulled him out of there.

NARRATOR: AFTER SIX LONG YEARS UNDER COVER,

THE FEDS PULL PISTONE FROM THE STREETS

AND SHUTTER OPERATION DONNIE BRASCO.

NOW IT'S TIME TO LET THE MOB KNOW THE TRUTH.

Joe Pistone: When the operation was gonna be

closed down we had a meeting with three agents

and uh, one of them knew Sonny Black.

So what I did was I took a picture with

these guys with my credentials and uh,

the agents went to Sonny Black

[knocking sound]

and they showed him a photograph of myself and

the guys, uh, and they said,

"You know Sonny,

we just want you to know that uh this guy

you know as Donnie Brasco is really

Special Agent Joseph D. Pistone

of the FBI.

He's been working undercover for six years."

And what Sonny said was, "Well, I don't know.

If I see him I'll know."

And that was it.

Then they told him that,

"Sonny, once this comes out you're better off coming

with us 'cause you know you're gonna get killed."

And he just told them,

"Look, I don't believe it,"

and he just shrugged it off.

And that was it.

And they left.

And he calls Lefty, calls the other guys in

the crew, they all go to the Motion Lounge.

Sonny Black: The Feds were just here.

They say Donnie's FBI.

Joe Pistone: And he tells 'em what happened.

In the beginning Lefty couldn't believe it either.

Lefty couldn't believe that I was

an undercover agent.

When he found out I can't say here on

camera what his response was.

It wasn't good, it wasn't good.

NARRATOR: WORD SPREADS IN THE STREETS BONANNO

ASSOCIATE DONNIE BRASCO IS ACTUALLY A FEDERAL AGENT,

AN INFILTRATION THAT WILL SOON SHATTER

THE AMERICAN MOB.

INFILTRATING THE BONANNO FAMILY TO ITS CORE.

BUT AFTER SIX YEARS UNDERCOVER,

THE FEDS PULLS HIM OUT BEFORE HE MUST KILL

SOMEONE OR GET KILLED HIMSELF.

AND THE NEWS QUICKLY SPREADS IN THE STREETS

THAT THE WISE GUY KNOWN AS DONNIE BRASCO.

Sonny Black: They say Donnie's FBI.

NARRATOR: ISN'T WHAT HE APPEARS TO BE.

Michael Franzese: I remember meeting Donnie Brasco,

Joe Pistone, with Lefty.

We didn't have any business,

it was hello and goodbye, he was there,

there was nothing more discussed.

But when we found out what happened and it was common

knowledge on the street that he was an informant

FBI agent, it was pretty shocking because they,

he was almost straightened out.

He had gotten that far.

Joe Pistone: And then what happened once they found

out it was me, uh, the Commission got together

and the Commission put together a

$500,000 contract out on me.

NARRATOR: PISTONE GETS OUT OF NEW YORK FAST,

HIDING OUT IN FBI HEADQUARTERS IN

WASHINGTON, DC.

BUT WITHIN THE MOB THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR

DONNIE BRASCO'S RISE MUST PAY THE PRICE.

Joe Pistone: Sonny had to fess up to all

the bosses what had happened.

So he gets a call to go to a sit down.

He walks into the Motion Lounge.

Bartender: Hey, Sonny.

Joe Pistone: And tells the bartender,

I just got called to a sit down and

he gives him his ring,

gives him his money, gives him his keys except

his car keys and he calls his girlfriend and says,

"They tell me Donnie was an undercover agent,

I didn't believe it, now I believe it."

If you ever see Donnie tell him I'm

glad it was him.

So he goes to the sit down.

And the next thing they know is

Sonny Black is gone.

Lefty was on his way to get killed and

surveillance team snatched him up because

they heard that you know when he gets here

we're gonna kill him, whack him.

NARRATOR: A YEAR LATER,

LAW ENFORCEMENT MAKES A GRUESOME DISCOVERY.

Joe Pistone: They found Sonny's body in '82

in a body bag with his hands cut off.

And the reason that they did that was he introduced

me to bosses that I shook hands with.

Did I want to see him die?

No, I mean look, you know, that's not my job.

My job is to gather evidence to

put you in jail.

Lefty, he spends his 15, 18 years in the

can doesn't say a word.

'Cause they took that oath and

they believed in that oath.

They took that oath and

they believed in that oath.

NARRATOR: BUT PISTONE'S NOT THE ONLY

ONE CHOOSING A NEW PATH.

ACROSS TOWN, MICHAEL FRANZESE,

A CAPTAIN AND TOP EARNER IN THE COLOMBO FAMILY,

IS BECOMING DISILLUSIONED WITH HIS WAY OF LIFE.

BUT THAT'S THE LEAST OF HIS TROUBLES,

LAW ENFORCEMENT'S CLOSING IN.

Michael Franzese: I started to feel the

pressure in the early 80s and the government uh

opened my eyes to it and that they had

a major undercover operation on me,

on this gasoline case and everything else.

Rudolph Giuliani: It would seem that Michael Franzese

is unfortunately following in the footsteps

of his father.

Michael Franzese: The FBI can allege and

say whatever they like.

They've been doing it for many, many years.

Edward McDonald: Well, the FBI identified him

as a significant target.

Informants were providing information to

the FBI about this up and coming, um, you know,

sophisticated gangster.

So the FBI came to us and said that they wanted

to bring a case against him.

Michael Franzese: I got a visit uh in my uh

offices out in Long Island from two FBI agents.

And they came in to see me and they said,

"We need to talk to you."

I said, "What do you want?"

They said, "Listen, tell us what you're doing

and we'll give you a pass."

Yeah, right.

And I said, "Well, I don't know what

you're talking about with gas."

You know?

So I knew, and said, "This is not good."

I mean I really got their attention now.

Edward McDonald: We gathered evidence,

primarily from cooperating witnesses and

when he was faced with a lengthy trial and

the prospect of getting a very lengthy sentence.

Michael Franzese: People were being convicted,

100 years, 150 years,

I said, they're gonna give me 1,000 years

if I go down on this.

Edward McDonald: He decided to plead guilty

and to make restitution payments of ten million

dollars, which he pretty much defaulted on.

News Reporter: Michael Franzese indicted on

28 counts of racketeering, fraud and extortion.

Michael Franzese: I had made two very bad

decisions in my life.

I trusted my father, look where it got me.

I surrendered my life to La Cosa Nostra

and look where it got me.

I got death threats, hits all over me,

the FBI hates me, everybody on the street

hates me, my father disowned me.

I don't have a friend in the world.

I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in a

6 x 8 cell.

And it was the first and only time in my life

that I, I really felt hopeless.

Edward McDonald: Then he kind of shocked us,

because he came forward and agreed to cooperate.

And based on the cooperation he provided,

he did get his sentenced reduced.

Michael Franzese: I got 4 years on a parole

violation and I spent 35 months and 13 more

days in prison, 29 months and 7 days in the hole.

And during that time is when I, um,

strengthened my faith and um,

started to read the Bible.

NARRATOR: BUT FRANZESE GETS OUT AND

LIVES TO TELL THE TALE.

Michael Franzese: Do I find it surprising

that I'm alive?

I feel I'm the most blessed guy

walking the streets.

What should my fate have been?

I should either be dead or in prison

for the rest of my life.

NARRATOR: THE SON WHO ONCE FOLLOWED HIS GANGSTER

FATHER BLINDLY INTO THE LIFE NOW WALKS AWAY

FROM THE MOB FOREVER, UNSCATHED.

Edward McDonald: I cannot explain how

Michael Franzese was able to do what he did.

The only speculation we have

is that he paid his way out.

Somehow he was able to persuade people in the

Colombo crime family not to do anything to him.

Michael Franzese: Really, the only way that ends is

when you end and you're in a coffin, it's over.

NARRATOR: HOW MICHAEL FRANZESE

GOT OUT OF THE AMERICAN MOB WITH

HIS LIFE REMAINS A MYSTERY TO THIS DAY.

BUT THE WORST DEEDS OF FRANZESE'S

PAST STILL HAUNT HIM.

ESPECIALLY THE MURDER OF A CLOSE FRIEND,

"CHAMPAGNE" LARRY CARROZZA.

Michael Franzese: Larry Carrozza was someone

very close to me.

I mean the kid loved me and I loved him.

I baptized his kids.

He baptized my daughter.

Unbeknownst to me, he was having

an affair with my sister.

I was brought in and it was told to me

that this is what was going on.

Man: The word is on the street.

NARRATOR: NO ONE MESSES WITH MOB WOMEN.

THOSE WHO DO PAY A HEAVY PENALTY.

Michael Franzese: I was told he disrespect you

and he disrespected your father and that's

something that uh, we don't stand for in

this life and I said,

"But you know, he's not a made guy."

Stupid.

And how do we know what really happened and

let me talk to my sister," and "Nope.

You want to take care of it, you take care of it.

If not, we'll take care of it."

And I said, "I don't wanna do it."

I says, "The guy's too close to me."

NARRATOR: LARRY CARROZZA'S BODY IS

FOUND NEAR HIS CAR.

HE IS SHOT A SINGLE TIME BEHIND THE EAR.

Michael Franzese: His murder, that's probably

something that uh has been the

heaviest on my heart.

NARRATOR: THESE DAYS IT'S FAITH THAT HELPS

FRANZESE COPE WITH THE DARKNESS OF HIS PAST.

Michael Franzese: Guys, be honest.

You don't come to church but you figure,

"Hey, Sopranos is off the air, let me go

see what the real mob guy is all about, right?"

[laughter].

Michael Franzese: That's your only interest.

What I did, I did and that's it.

As Christians, we happen to believe that we can be

forgiven for what we've done in the past.

So I believe with all my heart that

I've been forgiven.

NARRATOR: A LINE THAT'S HARD FOR A LOT

OF PEOPLE TO SWALLOW.

Michael Franzese: People can say it's a

phoney thing and it's a scam and you know

fortunately, in the end,

they're not gonna be the ones that judge me.

But I can't fool God, [laughs] you know?

God bless you all.

Host: Thank Michael Franzese, thank you.

NARRATOR: MICHAEL FRANZESE IS OUT OF THE LIFE TODAY,

BUT HIS FATHER SONNY NEVER WALKED AWAY.

Michael Franzese: You know, my dad's 96 years old.

He's the oldest living mob guy in America.

I think he's part of this life 66 or 67

years ago he took the oath.

Edward McDonald: He just recently was convicted

at the age of 96, I think he was convicted

on racketeering charges and was incarcerated

again, uh, was active until the age of 96

and it's absolutely amazing.

Michael Franzese: He is a treasure trove of mob

stories, if you can get him to talk about them.

NARRATOR: SONNY FRANZESE IS A LAST HOLD-OVER

FROM THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE AMERICAN MOB,

AN ERA THAT ENDS WITH THE SUCCESS OF OPERATION

DONNIE BRASCO, THE HISTORIC INFILTRATION OF

THE BONANNO FAMILY BY UNDERCOVER AGENT

JOE PISTONE.

Michael Chertoff: Up until 1970,

all you could do with the mafia is,

like you know men with their eyes closed trying

to feel an elephant.

You would get a little piece of it,

but all you could prove was someone who actually

committed a particular crime.

Joe Pistone did something unique,

which is he infiltrated the Bonanno Family,

the organized crime family,

with such success that he was on the verge

of being made as a member.

In doing that not only did he collect direct

evidence of crimes against the Bonanno Family,

but he was able to talk knowledgeably

about the structure of the whole mafia.

Joe Pistone: This undercover case was

the beginning of the unravelling of the mafia

in America as we knew it, as it once was.

NARRATOR: ALL IN ALL, THE INFORMATION PISTONE

PROVIDES LAW ENFORCEMENT LEADS TO OVER 200

INDICTMENTS AND MORE THAN 100 CONVICTIONS

OF MAJOR MOB FIGURES.

BUT IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE

GOVERNMENT'S ALL OUT ASSAULT ON

THE AMERICAN MOB.

James Kossler: Joe Pistone's role as

Donnie Brasco was historic in the FBI.

Historic in law enforcement.

Rudolph Giuliani: Pistone broke the

confidence of the mafia.

He broke the mystique that you

couldn't infiltrate the mafia.

That mystique was very, very important in getting

people to cooperate, 'cause now all of a sudden

it isn't this impregnable organization

that nobody's ever penetrated.

Steve Salmieri: Joe Pistone and his case,

was the perfect storm for organized crime.

Joe Pistone: We, we kicked the (bleep) out of them.

We really did.

NARRATOR: BUT THE AMERICAN MOB STILL HAS

ENORMOUS POWER IN NEW YORK CITY AND

AROUND THE COUNTRY IN THE 1980'S.

Leonetti: You always have to use your brain

and you always have to use the gun.

NARRATOR: IN CITIES LIKE PHILADELPHIA,

HOME TO THE MOST VIOLENT MOB FAMILIES IN

THE UNITED STATES.

Leonetti: We live by our own set of rules.

NARRATOR: AND A MAJOR BATTLEGROUND IN

LAW ENFORCEMENT'S WAR TO END THE RULE OF COSA NOSTRA.

Pichini: His reign becomes a reign of terror.

Nick Scarfo: I invoke my right and decline to

answer the question.

Leonetti: We got away with murder.

[gunshots].