John “Sonny” Franzese Sr. was an Italian-American organized crime figure, businessman, and longtime member of the Colombo crime family, one of the Mafia organizations operating in New York City, United States. He served as the family’s underboss and remained connected to organized crime for more than six decades. His criminal record and alleged activities included racketeering, bank robbery, loan sharking, drug trafficking, fraud, conspiracy, extortion, and other serious offenses. Franzese received a 50-year prison sentence for his involvement in organizing several bank robberies. Over the years, he was released on parole but was returned to prison on multiple occasions for violating its conditions. At the age of 93, he received another eight-year sentence for offenses that included extortion and loan sharking. He was eventually released in June 2017. By that time, he had become the oldest federal prisoner in the United States and the only centenarian held in federal custody. Franzese was widely regarded as one of the oldest surviving figures associated with organized crime and was possibly the oldest living member of the American Mafia. Beyond his criminal connections, he was also linked to the film industry through financial involvement in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Deep Throat. He additionally served as an associate producer of the film This Thing of Ours.
Childhood & Early Life
John “Sonny” Franzese Sr. was born in Naples, Italy, to Carmine “The Lion” Franzese and Maria Corvola. However, his exact birth year has been a subject of conflicting accounts. Federal prison records list his birth date as February 6, 1917, whereas his son, Michael Franzese, has maintained that his father was born in 1919.
Franzese grew up alongside his three brothers. While he was still young, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in New York City, where he eventually became involved in organized crime.
Criminal Activities of John Franzese
Franzese began his criminal career in the late 1930s as a member of the gang led by Joseph Profaci. The organization, initially known as the Profaci crime family, later became the Colombo crime family. His first arrest occurred in 1938 on an assault charge.
In 1942, during World War II, Franzese was discharged from the United States Army after being described as exhibiting “homicidal tendencies.” Several years later, court documents accused him of rape in 1947, although he was not arrested in connection with that allegation.
Franzese frequented New York City’s famous Copacabana nightclub while conducting criminal operations in New York and New Jersey. He was formally initiated into the Mafia in 1949 and initially served as a soldier in the Colombo crime family under Sebastian “Buster” Aloi. By the mid-1950s, he had risen to the rank of caporegime, or captain. In 1964, family boss Joseph Colombo elevated him to the position of underboss.
Franzese was also implicated in the killing of Ernest Rupolo, a lower-ranking New York mobster and hitman associated with the Genovese crime family. Rupolo had become a government informant and testified against Vito Genovese, who later became the family’s boss. It was widely believed that Genovese ordered Rupolo’s murder and that Franzese carried it out in 1964 as a favor to him. Rupolo was reportedly shot and stabbed multiple times, with concrete blocks attached to his legs before his body was thrown into the water. His hands had also been tied. During Franzese’s trial, prosecution records alleged that he had been responsible for approximately 30 to 50 killings.
In a 1965 report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) described Franzese as a prominent and rapidly expanding loan shark in the greater New York area. According to the report, his illegal lending operations were helping him acquire interests in New York nightclubs. Franzese was also reportedly a longtime business associate of Matthew Ianniello, a former acting boss of the Genovese crime family. The two were linked to the adult entertainment industry until Ianniello received a 13-year prison sentence in 1988.
Franzese’s financial activities extended into the entertainment industry. He reportedly provided financial backing for the 1972 adult film Deep Throat and the 1974 horror movie The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. He was also credited as an associate producer of the 2003 crime drama This Thing of Ours.
In 1967, Franzese acquired a financial interest in Buddah Records, a New York-based record label established that year. The label released successful recordings by artists such as Curtis Mayfield and Melanie Safka. It was alleged that Franzese used his involvement with the company to facilitate payola, the illegal payment of disc jockeys to promote records, and to launder money generated through organized crime.
That same year, Franzese was convicted of masterminding several bank robberies. In 1970, federal judge Jacob Mishler sentenced him to 50 years in prison. According to his son Michael, Franzese responded to the lengthy sentence by confidently declaring that he would serve the entire term. He first became eligible for release on parole in 1978 and was released on several occasions thereafter, but repeated parole violations resulted in his return to prison.
Despite his incarceration, Franzese reportedly continued to exercise influence within the Colombo crime family. He served as its acting underboss from 1983 to 1987 and later regained the underboss position following the imprisonment of John “Jackie” DeRoss in 2005.
In June 2008, Franzese faced a new indictment involving allegations of murder connected to the Colombo family wars of the 1990s, along with conspiracy, loan sharking, drug trafficking, extortion, and racketeering. He was released from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on December 24, 2008.
On January 14, 2011, Franzese received an eight-year prison sentence for offenses that included loan sharking and extortion. He was 93 years old at the time. On June 23, 2017, he was released from the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts. By then, he had reached centenarian status, and his release also coincided with the conclusion of his original 50-year sentence for the bank robbery conspiracy.
Murder Techniques of Franzese
Gaetano “Guy” Fatato, an associate of the Colombo crime family who later became a government informant, secretly recorded a conversation with Franzese. Unaware that Fatato was cooperating with authorities, Franzese reportedly discussed methods he claimed to have used when committing murders and disposing of victims’ remains.
During the recorded conversation, Franzese described using nail polish on his fingertips in an attempt to prevent fingerprints from being left at crime scenes. He also discussed wearing a hairnet to reduce the likelihood of leaving hair behind, which could potentially provide investigators with forensic evidence.
Franzese further described his alleged methods of handling and disposing of bodies. According to the recorded conversation, he spoke about dismembering victims in a small swimming pool, drying the remains in a microwave oven, and subsequently disposing of them using commercial-grade garbage disposal equipment. These accounts formed part of the evidence documenting his discussions about violent criminal activity.
Family & Personal Life
Franzese married Cristina Capobianco-Franzese in 1957. She died of cancer in 2012 while he was serving a prison sentence. The couple had eight children. By June 2016, Franzese reportedly had 18 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
His son Michael Franzese followed his father into organized crime and became a caporegime in the Colombo crime family. During the 1980s, Michael reportedly managed some of his father’s criminal operations while Franzese was incarcerated. Michael also became involved in lucrative gasoline tax schemes during that period. He later renounced organized crime, embraced Christianity, and established himself as a motivational speaker. He also founded an organization dedicated to helping young people.
Another son, John Franzese Jr., was associated with the Colombo crime family before eventually becoming an FBI informant.
Following his release from prison in 2017, Franzese returned to civilian life. His long criminal history, repeated incarcerations, and continued association with one of New York’s major Mafia families made him a widely known figure in the history of American organized crime.