Michael "Mikey" Franzese (born 27 May 1951) was a caporegime of the Colombo crime family of the American Mafia and, later, a motivational speaker.
Biography[]
Michael Franzese was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York on 27 May 1951, the son of Colombo crime family underboss John Franzese. He later moved to Long Island, and he quit studying at Hofstra University to enter a life of crime, acting against his father's wishes. In 1975, he was "made" as a soldato of the Colombo family, and he became a caporegime in 1980, leading between 300 and 500 soldati. He developed wide-ranging criminal connections, and he became involved with gasoline bootlegging during the 1980s, selling millions of gasoline in partnership with the Russian Mafia of Brighton Beach. In 1986, he was sentenced to ten years in federal prison, and he was released in 1994; he retired from the Mafia a year later. Franzese publicly renounced organized crime, became a devoted Christian, created a foundation for helping youth, and became a motivational speaker.
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