When Sonny Franzese died last month at age 103, he was the last living remnant of the New York Mafia from its heyday. A feared enforcer and dictatorial head of the Profaci (later Colombo) family, he knew where all the bodies were buried, so to speak, and may have had inside knowledge on the JFK assassination. Frank Sinatra kissed Sonny’s ring many times in public, and his ill-gotten gains funded everything from Deep Throat and Texas Chainsaw Massacre to bubblegum music like “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy”. Mark Jacobson attended his Brooklyn funeral and reports back on Sonny Franzese’s life of crime for PKM.
10 Mob Rats In Hiding
In 1963, Joseph Valachi became the first Mafia member to publicly acknowledge the existence of the Cosa Nostra (meaning “Our Thing”). Since his testimony, hundreds of connected men have turned state’s evidence. Some of the most influential Mafia leaders of the 20th century have been sent to prison by former members of their organization.
10Ralph Guarino
On January 14, 1998, three men robbed the Bank of America offices inside the World Trade Center and stole $1.6 million. It was a poorly planned heist and two of the robbers were caught on camera. The tape allowed the police to track down the leader of the group, a gangster named Ralph Guarino. After Guarino was confronted by the authorities, he agreed to go undercover and infiltrate the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey.