Franco Grande (died 1993) was an Italian-American mobster who was affiliated with the Detroit Partnership family of the American Mafia.
Biography[]
Franco Grande was born in Sicily, Italy, and he emigrated to the United States at a young age, settling in Detroit, Michigan. He became involved with the Mafia's "Detroit Partnership" organization, and he served as one of consigliere Vincenzo Coccotti's chief lieutenants, in part because he spoke fluent English and Italian, enabling him to serve as a translator for fellow Sicilian crew member Luca Patane. In 1993, he was sent to Los Angeles to accompany underboss Virgil Cammarota as he searched for Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman, who had inadvertently stolen a large quantity of cocaine from the Mafia after murdering the pimp Drexl Spivey. The mobsters tracked the two down to the Beverly Ambassador with the help of the stoned roommate of actor Dick Ritchie, an associate of the criminal duo. Grande took a female hostage in the lobby as the other mobsters headed upstairs to crash the drug deal between the duo and film producer Lee Donowitz, and he was shot dead by the LAPD as they stormed the lobby at the end of the ensuing shootout.