Ex-Member of the Columbo Crime Family: Michael Franzese "Prince of the Mafia"

You said earlier that your father had always taught you not to trust the police. You also mentioned that you grew up seeing police and other law enforcement agents do things that made you hate them even more. Which of those negative things do you remember most today?

Y'know, it was actually a compilation of things. I loved my father so much and all the FBI and police tried to do was take him away and hurt my family. So that was the main thought process. But sometimes I would witness agents just kind of get out of control. One day I was playin' ball outside, the ball went over my head and rolled into the street. The agents were parked on my street, as always, and when the ball got to their car one of the agents got out.. Big guy.. And he stops the ball with his foot and lifts up his coat. He had a gun there and said "This is for your old man". I mean, I'm 10 years old.. And that really got me. It just went down from that point. I had a graduation party when I graduated high school and I had over 500 people there, lots of them were my friends from school.. The FBI agents took down the license plate number of all the cars that came to my party and gave them subpoenas to testify in front of a grand jury as to what their business was at my house. Why were they there? What went on? And that kind of harassment just made me dislike them very much.

You mentioned that you were "being groomed to be a Mob Boss", what exactly does that entail?

Basically just learning the life. How to deal with the men, how to handle the position of leadership because that life is very intriguing. And when you're in a position of leadership you have got to know how to handle all the situations that may arise. So my dad was showing me the ropes and the boss was grooming me and telling me exactly what I needed to know. Being the boss of a Mob family is a very tenuous position. You do something wrong or gain resentment from the men... they take you out. Leading in that life is different than anything else.

You talked a lot about your father, and your close relationship with him throughout your childhood. Even today, with him in prison, you still have a close relationship with him. What I was wondering was, how was your mother through all this?

My mother became very bitter and angry, and sad. Very sad. In her view, my father destroyed her kids. Both my sisters died, my brother was a mess, and me going off into the same life.. She wanted me to go to school. And then being without a husband for all those years.. And my mother to this day is devastated without him. It impacted her in a bad way.

What was one of the major events that made you realize that Mob life was no longer the life for you?

One of the main things was the night I was called upon by the boss and brought into a room based on the amount of money I was making and turning in. I was getting very popular, making billions of dollars, and it made the boss very nervous. And that night I walked into a room that I didn't know I was going to walk out of. After it was over, and after they questioned me, I was very angry. I had found out that my dad had actually betrayed me. He was in the room before I was and he didn't think to help me. I was on my own. And it was something I always kept in the back of my mind. I trusted my father with my life and he betrayed me. Not too long after that I met my wife.. And it was as if many things were preparing me to leave the life. And when the time came, I did.

You said earlier that the movie Goodfellas was the most accurate depiction of Mob life that Hollywood will get. At the end of the movie however, when Henry Hill goes into witness protection, he ends the movie by saying he hates it. He hates not having the money, the glamour, and the respect that he once had as a gangster. Despite the negative parts of it, do you ever look back and miss the life?

Goodfellas characters, and old friends of Michael Franzese,
Tommy DeSimone, Henry Hill, and Jimmy Conway.

Absolutely. Ab-so-lute-ly. The thing that was so attractive about that life, for me, was the camaraderie amongst the men. It was very strong. It was a brotherhood. I got your back, you got mine. It was very powerful and I miss that a lot. And y'know, you're always gonna miss the perks. I'd walk into a restaurant and get the best table I want. Every one treats you right. I miss all the money, gettin anything I want. And of course those things are attractive. But would I ever go back for that? No. It's not worth it.  I got seven kids. Two are already through with college. That's worth it.