Former NYC Gangster Gene Borrello | Sitdown with Michael Franzese

you really didn't know who you could trust back then because everybody was killing people for for positions and things you just didn't know who to trust it's a very I know it's a very how can I say it oh you always got to be on your toes pretty much walk in Redemption hey everyone welcome to another sit down with Michael Frances hope everybody is doing well all is very good very blessed on this end as always I give all the praise honor and glory to God for that and Thanksgiving of course not too long ago I interviewed someone who's kind of controversial everybody you know on this platform is probably going to know who he is most of you are those of you that follow this genre and I know some of you are going to question me Michael why would you have this person on and I'm going to answer that I'm going to respond to that uh but let me set this up you know YouTube is a kind of a crazy platform at times you know there's a lot of good things that come with it a lot of difficult things come with it a lot of nice people a lot of people that you know make some comments that are uh just really not appropriate I would say let me put it nicely and mildly you know I give you an example not too long ago I did an interview with James Proctor and James Proctor and Lee Cole had a podcast together and then um James took it over recently and uh he's a really good guy I like him very much he's a Christian you know like I am and I know as soon as you say that you know the haters will come out and say oh yeah you're a funny Christ we get all of that we understand that no problem if you're on this platform you got to have thick skin if you don't have thick skin stay off of it you know especially if you have a past like I have and there's some controversy involved with you you know there's going to be people that like you there's going to be people that don't like you you're going to hear comments and remarks some you like some you don't like fortunately you know for those of us that uh survive and do well on YouTube we have more people that enjoy what we have to say and the content that we bring forward and those that don't and that's just name of the game but I told James I said James you know this CH channel of yours has been conditioned to not like me you know that's just the way it is there's things been said about me that weren't too kind let's put it nicely things that were untrue uh but you know if you want to go with it let's go with it because I told him I would help him build his channel he's a really good guy I think he's good at what he does his research is great he tries to be very fair he goes down the middle uh and he wants to kind of change the platform a little bit because there's been a lot of negative stuff on that platform and I think that he wants to make it a bit more positive just giving good information interesting stories entertaining stories but informative content and so I support that I want to help anybody in this genre on YouTube that I possibly can as long as they're not constantly going after people and knocking people and saying bad things I'm not about that for those of you that have followed my channel you know that I didn't build this channel you know by by talking negatively or by going after other people I just don't do it uh whether I like them or not that doesn't matter you know I just don't do it I don't think it helps anybody I don't think it's attractive I don't think it uh I don't think it promotes what we should be promoting here on YouTube that's just my opinion but hey for all of you out there that want to do differently God bless you go for it uh but James said no I want to do it and uh I thought we had a very good interview I really did he's professional he did a right job and uh it went well and um you know um I have been accused of associating with people that uh Michael how could you talk to that guy and you know so on and so forth and you know they said all of these bad things about you and let me tell you about me you know I am number one a pretty forgiving guy number two I try to take things as they come and understand why they're being said uh I get it and you know I don't want to fight with people on social media it doesn't make sense it's kind of silly it's kind of demeaning when you really think about it you know because you're got a keyboard and a screen in front of you and you're arguing with people it doesn't make sense you know if it's a debate if we're talking about important issues if something like that okay you know I agree with that then this is a good forum for that it's a good platform for that that's what we should be doing but if we're just knocking people and talking about people and saying this thing and then you come back can retaliate to me it doesn't make sense I'm sorry so today uh you're going to see an interview a sit down that I had not too long ago with Jean Burell okay come on the lights going off or the haters going out there and saying this let me tell you something I uh I do what I like to do I do what I feel I should do and uh some people are going to like it some people aren't now Jee Burell said some pretty bad things about me at one point in time but I want you to understand this Jean was born in 19 85 I believe that's the year I went off to prison uh that's the year I made the decision to try to walk away from this life so we don't know each other at all we didn't run the streets at the same time but jean came on YouTube he came on with John aight and uh you know they started saying some things about me okay you know it's YouTube I get it whatever is it right that's up for you to decide you know so uh did I respond to it no I didn't respond to any of that because that's not how I was building my channel it's not what I'm into yes I am a Christian and we don't do that you know honestly if some people want to knock me okay go ahead you know doesn't matter to me I think I've gone way beyond that at this point in time um so Jean and I talked not too long ago and Jean kind of explained himself to me I get it I understood it and uh we kind of patched things up now did he hurt me in any way did he do anything to me and my family no he did not you know so what am am I going to do hold the grudge I'm going to say well you said bad things about me and I can't handle that I'm not thick skinned so I'll never talk to you again I'll never give you a platform no I'm not going to do that okay if somebody comes to me I understand they're in this genre okay I want to hear what you have to say if I can help you I'm looking to help you this isn't competition to me it's not at all this platform for me um really helps to build my brand number one number two I enjoy the back and forth with people number three I think I have a voice and I think I have uh information that people want to hear I think I can be entertaining at times that's what it's all about it's not about me fighting holding a grudge getting mad whatever I'm not about that if somebody wants to talk to me hey come and see me I'm all over this country you have something you want to say to me you want to say to my face come and do it you don't have to do it on social media silly it's beneath you and it's demeaning it's more demeaning to the person that does it than it is to me but if somebody says to me hey you know what Michael let bygones be bygones you know this is the platform blah blah blah whatever and that you want to sit down and talk hey I'm more than happy to do that and so Jean and I kind of had that conversation and I said Okay g you want to be on the platform I'm more than happy to bring you on and so he comes on and we had a discussion and let me tell you something you know he's gone through a lot you know the way he grew up in the neighborhood and all this kind of stuff and I know you've heard things and he said things and Jean is you know he is erratic he doesn't have much of a filter what's in his head comes out of his mouth you know but I tell you what you know a lot of things are taken out of context a lot of things have been said about him that may be exaggerated by people that don't like him you know that's this platform that's what happens there's been so many things said about me that are just not true and I understand people don't like me so they'll say it okay I'm not going to fight with them you know very very rarely do I never answer a comment sometimes I do because I want other people to hear what I have to say about it you know in the comment section but that's about it so I had what I thought was a good sit down with Jean and uh you're going to hear it and for those of you that uh appreciate it you know I think you will I think you'll appreciate what he has to say I think you'll see a different side of Jean a side that I enjoyed you know seeing and hopefully you'll come away with the same impression so uh Jean barell you're up my friend some questions that mean a lot to me that I'm always curious about and uh you came out of a good home right right M and Dad good people you got Brothers um I don't think any of them followed you into this this life at all no they're legitimate guys they're doing whatever they do legitimately yep a cop one's a cop on how does that work how does it work out between you and him oh no now it's good but I mean like it didn't at first you know I mean but now yeah now it's fine because you know I'm not on that on you know a mob guy no more but you know it was awkward at first I guess you could say you know and are you close with him yeah of course he's my young I'm the oldest like I says I I went that route my grandfather was a Knockaround guy as you know I was related to U Andy Riano and my cousin on my father side was a pretty wild guy for the gambinos as well so you know it was always around me plus you growing up in Howard Beach you know that's like the mafia Soul popper of the country you could say yeah you know it's like let me ask you this Samy says you know he says I was just a bad kid man I was a bad seed I had it in me my parents were good they didn't want this life for me but that's just what I chose same thing with you you think absolutely I was so bad Mike it's not even a question it was just a I and I don't blame I always say I don't blame it on anybody it's no one's fault but mine I just wanted to that way you know were you were you always an angry guy did you have a certain amount of anger in you yeah I think my dad was like that a lot my my my father um yes we have a a short head uh short fuse and then we do things and react off impulse you could say and what what do you think uh what was your first attraction to the street you know I know you're an impulsive guy you know you're quick with your hands I get it but what What attracted you to the life what do you think it was um honestly the money it was the money with me yeah it was the fast money um then when I got involved and started getting next to people like that were ranks like that you were like captains and higher ups I seen all the respect that they got and that kind of that was fascinating as well to be honest with you to see how people just catered to them as you know people cater to you in that life you know what I mean so that was uh very that caught my attention as well well you know I jeene because so many of the young people you know I go into prisons and I speak in juvenile Halls they all say the same thing man we watched you guys on the street corners you had the money you had the girls you had the cars you had the power very attractive and I get it you know it is it is very attractive especially for a young guy you know running around the streets or Brooklyn or queens or in those areas they see guys you know in that life and it it really means something yeah and you know also the neighborhoods that we grow up in Mike you know it's all around us you're older than you know you know as you know just as good you're from Brooklyn right you're born in Brooklyn Brooklyn get it back in the 70s and the 80s and Brooklyn it was all Italian you know I mean even like when I was in the 90s all kosi Howard Beach was nothing but Italian and Irish you know that's all everybody wanted to be a gangster that's just the truth no that's the truth that's the the kind of era we grew up in and even though with me you know my father originally didn't want that life for me but then when he got jammed and that 50 years sentence things changed I got close to Joe Columbo who I knew most all my life and then things just changed you know I wanted to help my dad but yeah it was attractive to me too I mean listen you know going into the Copa Cabana always sitting in the ringside seat meeting everybody that you know seeing the respect that people get you know my father and all those it's uh it's really attractive and a lot of young people like yourself are attracted to that and you get involved you know let me let me ask you right off the bat I mean you didn't think it was a bad life right away did you no I didn't no I thought violence was uh so how I was taught almost was what we were doing was the right thing so like you know for instance I have shootings I have assaults I have violent crimes I thought that's how what you were supposed to do to prosper in that life so when they gave me an order to go hunt someone or do the things I was doing I thought okay this is the way that I become a member this is the way that I prosper in his life it's the right thing to do they deserved what they got coming you know what I mean that's how I looked at it yeah and so in some ways it was honorable because somebody made a mistake or did the wrong thing and you were called upon to straighten that out and that was part of that life and you know you know we all thought hey you know what uh we hurt each other we know what the rules are we know what the policies are if we make a mistake we're going to pay for it but we understand that going in so there there is some kind of crazy honor in that at least we see it that way but then I seen this Mike and what I didn't like was when you're in a call with a bunch of guys and and you they get out the car everybody's talking about each other that was one thing I didn't thr me off and then everybody's plotting on each other and then everybody's jealous about who's making more money and who's the guy and you know then the guy I work for personally was very greedy as I was walk out the car they talking about each other app plotting on each other um best friends I seen like with Ronnie G Alonzo he was a acting skipper for a little while and when he went to prison his whole crew turned on him they all went to report to his captain his cousin Jerry and told him about all the bad things he was doing I couldn't understand it Mike and it was like they were trying to like get him in trouble and get him knocked down and it was just the craziest thing to me and then and then like the people we were hurting was all about his money when anybody else had a problem he didn't want to hear it don't do nothing but when it came to him and his money then it's sky the limit you know what I mean so that was kind of throwing me off a lot too yeah no unfortunately there is a lot of that and you know look I think when we first get involved in that life we have a very idealistic view you know hey this is a great thing I got your back you got mine there's a Brotherhood will'll never go against each other but unfortunately it's the street and you know listen I I don't look at it Jean as anything worse Corporate America you have the same kind of backstabbing and all that people don't get killed in that life but you know people are always it's just human nature it's it's the way it is but it is um you know it's it's very discouraging I would say so did that that leave a bad impression on you as you contined to get involved as I got older I didn't know any better as a young kid because when I was 20 years old they sent me to um you know shoot my friend and I did it and you know that's how loyal I was to them you know what I mean I popped my own friend and um in broad daylight and um I thought that was like a big thing you know like I did a piece of work for them and that's what you're supposed to do and meanwhile you know I did a real snake move you know what I mean so uh that's you know as I get older now my friend is dead he was killed by somebody else um you know you start to it back and you know we became friends again after that believe it or not which is pretty crazy I know it's weird and um he forgave me for it but then he ended up being killed by somebody else and um it always bothered me that I turned on him you know did they ever propose Eugene yeah I was 27 years old yeah I was very excited well what happened was this so Vinnie Saro wanted me straightened out badly when Ronnie G Alonzo came home from federal prison he was on federal parole now I was with him every day 247 and Vinnie knew he was going to jail because his cousin gasa had a wire on over the Lans and stuff that he was charged with and he had found out that Gasper disappeared so he went to Ronnie and says listen I'm next to the boss he was the acting he was he was basically running the family with Tommy def Fury for Mikey know and he goes I'm next to everybody now I could get Genie Bo in now we have to do it now otherwise I'm leaving we're gone I already got him on the list he's good Ronnie goes like this R he goes I need him in the street for me if he gets straightened out he goes on my list he can't stay with me no more you know what happens when you go on the list he goes I need him with me he does everything for me let's just wait I'll get him in don't worry about it what ends up happening is what everybody gets locked up so I ultimately get screwed you know and I was very upset about it Mike you know because Vinnie came back and told me privately says I tried to get you done now but Ronnie says not right now he needs you I was Furious I didn't tell him that but inside I'm like I did all this stuff I shot a few people for this guy I did all his dirty work while he was in prison I collected all his money made sure he made his millions of dollars while he was in prison and he's going to put me on the back burner but I guess he was doing it because he wanted me with him all time but I took it as like you [ __ ] me almost yeah no I look I know that and you know that's you know the sad thing is so many guys turned on so many guys back then really you know and uh I mean I saw it you know when I was uh when they locked me up um and they were they were transporting me back to Florida I had to take a plea in Florida and then plea there and I'll never forget I was teasing one of the FBI agents you know they had me in custody and I was teasing them and they were saying Mike when we were surveilling you here is this what really happened and this and that and that and so I said you know listen guys I beat you five times I thought I'd give you one win that's why I took the plea right and somebody one of the it was a Postal Inspector turned to me and he said said not this time he says you became a big guy he said they were lining up to testify against you and you know what jean he was right he was absolutely right you know but look you know you know I I understand some things you know I really do with guys and you know I I look at things differently you know I until you walk in somebody's shoes I don't try to you know say anything about that person because everybody had their own situation you know Sammy Sammy and I had got into it a little bit but then we kind of talked you know I understand where he was coming from you know and uh it's just and listen the same with you the same with myself we did what we had to do you know to kind of preserve our lives and um you know look it is what it is that's the street unfortunately yeah I'm like and also you know like I say I felt like I felt like I got used almost and I'm not saying I was used I'm saying but it's like you know my intentions were to become a member like I was supposed to you know what I mean and then you kind of like took that from me away but put me on the back burner and then now I'm facing a million years when I get locked up cuz I'm the one doing all what the bad crimes um the reason why I was doing these bad crimes was to make it in that life now I never got my what I was supposed to get and now I'm facing life in prison at 30 years old yeah no it's it's a bad feeling obviously you feel abandoned I get it what was your uh when was your first arrest how old were you uh oh it started way at 15 16 for assaults and then uh I had about four assaults and then uh when I was 18 I got locked up for a kilo of cocaine I end up doing time for that I came home and then I caught a shooting case I did 3 to6 for that and then I came home and then I had like a 50 Monon run and then it was lights out it was over they had me on state federal Florida all over conspiracies everything you could think of Mike when you were in anybody take care of you send you money or my mother that was it my mother well that's one of the fallacies on the street everybody thinks you go to jail and everybody's throwing your money taking care of your family doesn't happen that way doesn't happen you know you got to provide for yourself let me ask you this what was your your all-time worst experience in that life alltime worst experience was uh when well now I think about it when I shot my friend that was uh that was I knew that um so I never thought I'd actually be that kind of guy CU you know growing up in those neighborhoods you know you always like oh when you walk outside there's a 100 bookmakers there's 100 long shots you know you could always be around the guy I never thought I'd actually be the guy that they be calling upon to do this crazy [ __ ] you know I didn't know that was going to be my role and then I inherited it somehow and now I think back on it and he was right my friend told me you don't need these people man they're no good and I end up shooting him for the life and um I really regret that I really that's one of my I really feel like a piece of crap over that still even now yeah because he's dead he's dead now he was killed um he was killed by somebody else and um he was a real tough kid I talk about him all the time Chris kagata real wild kid and um but I he was a good friend of mine I betrayed him yeah that hurts let let me ask you this what was your best experience in that life the money 40,000 a month is great money I know you made Millions I'm saying but my boss my captain made money like you not as much as you did but my captain was making 3 400,000 in a month uh he was doing a lot of money and um I seen that kind of money when he was making I it was it just blew my mind he had a seventh grade education Mike he couldn't read or write and um he was basically just a Street Smart Guy and um I was making money off his money you know the sports books the loone shocking I was a big score guy and I was doing about 30 40,000 a month and that's like you know people don't make that in a lifetime that go to school for their whole lives you know think about it you know the money that we make people ever see that kind of money you know so that was definitely the best of the time you know yeah I get it listen it's it's all about the money you know at the end of the day it really is you know let let me ask you this Jean if you would have seen if you would have seen honor real true honor and respect in that life you think you would have ever walked away or or got out of it at all I hate to say the truth and I'm going to I never would have left I loved it more than anything in the world I was so upset that the things that I for people and um when I was in prison I was in you know rough spots and I always held myself high and when I ex Mike I literally asked my boss you could say he's worth net worth of $35 million it's in the internet he had a 4 million dollar home in cash I asked him to get me a federal attorney he told my mother what happened to all his money you know and this is what I'm saying and you know this is it's sick almost so like you know what happened to his money or I'll take care of it when it goes Federal he was never going to take care of it but um it's just the way they are greedy [ __ ] and that's why I um I ultimately had a bad taste in my mouth you know no listen I get it you know maybe you relate to this my father I mean you know except for one guy who I don't want to mention the most standup guy 50 years would never in a million years say a word he doesn't admit to anything my father's Legacy in the life was more important to him than anything else you know more important than anything but in the meantime you know my mom passed away in 2012 I went to see my dad was in I couldn't get him out we tried to ate the marshals out uh to get him to go to the funeral they wouldn't let him right and I sat down with him and I wonder if you'll relate to this and uh you know he he took no responsibility my whole family was destroyed my sister dies of an overdose of drugs my brother a 25 year drug addict I can't tell you what I had to do just to keep him alive because he was beating people and just just a bad thing right right U my younger sister 41 she died she wasn't mentally stable she dies young of cancer destroyed smoke like yeah and my mother 33 years without a husband at the end of her uh life her relationship with my dad just ugly I mean she blamed him for everything that went wrong and rightfully so so I said to my father I said dad you got to take some responsibility for what happened you the whole family is destroyed he says it's not my fault I was framed I said but Dad I know you were AR frame but you weren't framed because you a doctor a lawyer or a priest you were framed because we're we're criminals that's who we are know that but you know he so he died with his boots on never would say a word but whole family destroyed destroyed I'm the only one really that survived out of it so you know when you look back at it I and another thing my father told me I'll share it with you he said to me Mike you never want to be a cop from the time I was a little kid he said because they take an oath to up their own mothers and fathers would you ever do that I no of course not dad never but tonight I got straightened out they told me this if your mother is sick and dying and you're at her bedside you leave your mother and you come to serve us we're number one in your life so I said Dad who's worse you know it's the thing you're right I know the oath obviously yeah exactly comes before everything that's right before everything and you know the bottom line you know what I learned later on and listen I I had a very idealistic view mob guy all the way wanted to be the best possible guy I could be wanted to please my father but in the end I said this is crazy it's just it's just crazy nobody's really taking care of anybody and you know Gan there was a lot of guys I really liked I I love some guys I loved Andrew rouso I I like pero a lot you know guys that I really liked but in the end of the day man it's it's just no good it's no good and not only that you're dealing with uh vicious murderers you got to understand at the end of the day a lot of these guys you dealt with in Columbo family especially they were just a murderous family I mean literally people don't understand how violent they were back in the day especially I mean uh the they were so brutal back then so I know how dangerous it was being a part of that family in the 70s and the 80s especially K on and snake probably order your murder of you sneezing wrong you know what I mean so I mean you know to walk on eggshells as well because you know in that era was so dangerous you know not knowing you get them for if you're going to walk out of there you know what I mean it's a whole new ball game your era so I understand that yeah you're absolutely right it was tough you know the columbos in my lifetime went through three Wars you know they were killing everybody all the time and there was there was a lot of that stuff you had to you had to really be careful to navigate that life the right way you know it was it was it was tough you really couldn't trust people back then especially everybody's fighting for power you really didn't know who you could trust back then because everybody was killing people for for positions and things you just didn't know who to trust it's a very I know it's a very how can I say it old you always got to be on your toes pretty much know you're you're absolutely right deal that so much let let me ask you this you uh you were in Riker's Island right a lot of Riker Island time I missed that tell me about it I did most most all my time was Federal I had a couple of little state things but didn't spend much time in the state other than LA County Jail where they had me in lockdown for 11 months but uh Rikers Island I heard stories about Rikers like forget it Mike telling you I did almost 40 something months in their total it's of it's like Iraq it's like basically I was in the military you know what I mean going to fight like when the World Trade Center dropped and you get sent over to go fight the terrorists that's what it's like in there you know what I mean it's just a war zone literally that's what it is it's non-stop chaos it's not even exaggerated there's no structure there's the cops are scared of the inmates I mean it's just insane you know how it's ran you don't touch a phone you have to fight for a phone call a chair everything you have to be earned you know it's a really it'll make you they say oh jail rikaz all will you know straighten you out no it's going to make you worse it's going to make you more of a vicious guy because you have to be so vicious in there to survive you know what I mean so it made me actually worse than what I was when I came out of there especially the adolescence where I started off which was a complete nightmare you did over four years there yeah total of on my beds on one St I stood there 19 months on one and it was just a it was just a real horror show you know everyone's always caught each other stabbing gang violence like you can't imagine um no like you know the rumor of rape of jails that's fake you know that don't really go on you know people you know that movie stuff you know what I mean that's not that's not real in prison really you know uh that people always say oh do you get raped in jail like are you serious that don't go on in jail that's like a myth you know what I mean but um yeah it was definitely um the most dangerous place I've been in you know Jan I got to tell you something as we're talking and this the first time we really spoke you seem to be really honest you just tell it like it is you say it like it is yeah I I do I and that's why U Mike like I says my status in that life was an associate trying to become a member I dealt with high ranks but the reason why I have such a good audience is because of what you just said I don't sugar coat nothing you know what I mean I I just tell her how it is and um a lot of these people come on here and you know I don't want to name people they embellish they make up stories that never happen you know things that the people know it's a lie it's ridiculous you know me I just say this is what I was this is what I did I was an extremely violent guy I work for powerful people I made good money and I was working my way up to become a member I likeed to Rob I was a big arm robber and um that was my life I have a lot of chaos chaotic stories and um you know people love that stuff you know so that's why I'm so popular on here I wasn't a boss I wasn't under boss you know I was none of that but um I have a good fan base because of what you said basically no and I see that so so let me ask when did you finally make the decision ision like hey this is it I'm done I'm finished it's really crazy because I never made the decision it was weird because I remember sitting up on Riker's Island and um I had no bail they had me on uh Florida and state and my lawyer rolled show he rolled in my Discovery in federal and it was a 15,000 page WAP indictment that was 2200 other Pages he goes listen you're like royally screwed he goes I don't even know what to tell you I was like all right whatever and um so I'm sitting up sitting up finally vinas Saro wins the latanza case not guilty in all charges it's the biggest upset in courtroom history for a mob case now who's the last guy to work for this guy me I already know they're gonna torture me now so I keep on trying to get these visits they keep on trying to come see me the FBI they keep on trying trying I keep saying no no no all of a sudden one day my mom I'm sitting my mother talking on a visit she goes so you're going to die in prison for these people I says yeah I say I said I can't go out like this they say I can't I made a good name for myself I can't do it what she said to me she goes so you're going to die in prison for these people they won't give you a federal attorney I give you comary money and you're gonna go rot in prison for the rest of your life your own cousin wore a wire on you three other people are wearing wires against you and this is what you want to do I sat there I dwelled for a couple days on it the next time the feds call for me it was 19 months in I says let me hear what they got to say I went down there their names were Robin Adam they were on the front page of the paper any this says we're banana they banana crime family federal agents they said um we're going to give you one opportunity this the last time uh you are indicted by the feds as well you will be spending the remaining you of your life in prison we have you on State Federal in Florida he goes we're going to give you the one opportunity now do you want to do you want to sit with us or not we're not coming back again and I just said give me the paper I decided right there it wasn't even like I planned it it was just right there it just clicked into my head that was it and I just did it and never look back well let me let me ask you you feel justified in doing that because of the way you know the life treated you no I yeah I I don't make excuses you know I never did that I never made the excuse I was mad at them that they wouldn't get me a lawyer and all that stuff but I ultimately said I don't want to do this for the rest of my life I could see what they did to me and I said you know what [ __ ] it I'm going to take my second chance I did it and I knew I was going to get a lot of backlash I knew people were going to be outraged I knew I was going to be Gangland every week and newspapers and I knew what I was going to have to deal with and I just said [ __ ] it I said you know what and I did it you know well you know Jan you know I'm believe me I could understand it because the Loyalty in that life you know there there are a few instances where it really it comes out as loyalty right you know um and I understand it and that's why so many guys flipped during that time I get it you know but uh let me so you have no regrets at this point no regrets I have no I have no regrets none you know what get well Mike you understand nobody thought that I was going to become like you know like as you want to say you know get fan mail or you know get these things and autograph books and you know if if you told me 10 years ago I was going to have a bestselling Bookout right now I look at you like you're crazy you know what I mean like you know it was you know uh these things that are happening to me now are unrealistic you know I'm friends with people that are like huge celebrities and things like that I never thought we'd be friends you know and um if you told me this I would say you know there's no way I'd be like this I figure I'd be sitting in a Penitentiary somewhere or you know running my area with my people so um I actually like it though Mike the way I live I'm gonna be honest with you I know you say that a lot you like the way your life is now I feel the same way I like it you know I live a pretty cool life yeah I don't mind it well why why should you you're doing well let let me ask you did you know John aight on the Street before or you met him after yes yeah I knew him when I was a young guy I knew his kids very well his kids played on my football team um when he when he had cooperated and I wasn't a cooperator I used to make sure nobody balled his kids because I was big on that because um you know these people don't have anything to do with that I was taught by Vinnie them you know ball civilians you all that stuff they have nothing to do with it the guy who cooperated that's the guy that's no good not his mother or his father or his brothers so the kids were nervous about coming into the park sometimes and they're not punks but you know they were young and I used to um make sure they were cool you know I did that for a few of them when hoodie cooperated uh his stepson didn't want to come into the park and I made sure he was good because I was at the time running running all the young kids and everything and I say don't bother these people they didn't do anything wrong their father whatever he did or that one whatever he did don't bother the kids though that's how I was you know so they always have respect for me for that when they people would hear that you know what I mean yeah and that's the right way to go and that's one thing I did appreciate about the life you know whoever made a mistake it was on them they didn't bother families CU I get asked that all the time you know didn't you worry you know when you left the life didn't you worry about your sons and I said no to my knowledge nobody ever went after families like that that's one code that we kept yeah one I was always okay with that my mother lives in Howard Beach to this day my family they don't say anything she still speaks to people they don't care it's like what he did now cartels that's a whole different ball game you know they go they kill the Goldfish you know I mean they don't care who they just kill everybody I don't condone that I don't like that the women children thing that's totally not cool with me um that's why I never got along with them in prison ms1 13s I never got along with them in prison I don't like their ways um so I um that was one thing I was happy about I always told my mother on visits and my family they'll never bother you don't worry I know Ronnie G I know them well they they won't even look at you wrong but you know they're just mad at me you know that's I knew the way yeah and fortunately that's one code of policy that was kept and it was a good one you know good one so let me ask you you get out you put all this stuff behind you and then you hook up with AI with John and you start the show you guys were the first ones that started the the whole YouTube deal how did that come about listen to me Mike man it was a blessing but it was also a curse because I was still on federal probation and the government was Furious over it and I mean like you have no idea they do not like that we come out and talk and do all this stuff they don't like it and um I got along with my prosecutors very well but they left so I had a whole different team and they kept telling me Jean there's nobody in this building for you no more they're gonna come after you and they weren't lying they violated me six times Mike six times I was violated six times I did 20 something months in violations they restarted me on my probation they tried to get me five years in prison but judge block just wouldn't do it so when we came out and started the show we brought a guy named John Rubio on the show and that was the real downfall because he made a statement on the show that he made more money with the government than in the mafia and the judge was just furious over it it was in The Daily News the post they called him back in the court they almost put him back in jail and that's when they really started coming down on me and said they wanted me off the show I wouldn't do it I said it's freedom of speech they tried stopping my book as well then I fell under the Cohen act they couldn't violate me they tried to violate me from my book but the guy who wrote the book on Donald Trump he was released from prison because the judge says you can't violate somebody for his Amendment you know to write a book so I fell into that app then they kind of find they were finding anything to violate me had they get me Mike contact sitting next to a felon yeah that's how they got me and then I got in trouble with my ex-girlfriend and then boom they came right down on me they gave me stipulations this big I couldn't talk about organiz crime I couldn't sit I couldn't this I couldn't do that everything was a violation everything so it was a blessing and a curse it got me where I am today the Johnny and Jean show it got me to blow up to you know Netflix things that have so much stuff going on but it also put me back in prison I did 20 months in violations house arrest restarted probation they tortured me Mike and I know you went through something similar with the probation yeah yeah they gave me a really rough time on that also violated me the whole bit but uh judge block it seems that he was in your corner seen something in you that uh uh you were fortunate you had him huh listen to me they put me in a newspaper this big okay for my parole it was a probation violation they were saying I was steroids burnap phones they would they made up this whole thing like they try to make me look so bad to the judge and the judge literally took it with a grain of salt he goes so you mean to tell me that he pulled a gun out on somebody in a bar there's no video the police never came to lock him up but this known man who's known for gun charges known ganized crime figure with guns they would have been kicking his door in the SWAT team if he had a pistol it didn't make sense the things they were saying was trying to make me you know what the coopera is they have to make you look like a gangster if they don't make you look like their old ways they really won't go too hard on you so the FBI tried to paint his picture that I'm a bad guy again right that's what he was trying to paint this this uh Christine M FBI agent she hated me and she literally was flying flying down mik to Florida to interr to question people about me really that's how much they were mad at me they were flying down to Florida to question people about me and say oh is he doing step collecting is he hanging out with bad guys is he carrying weapons I'm like what like what's going on here like it was just crazy how much they were mad at me over the show it was really it was all the show that was it it was the show that's what they all mad about they said they felt like they still needed to use me that I tainted their further because remember I was very relevant Mike I'm a modern day guy I was friends with a lot of people Columbo guys genev guys I knew everybody I knew I was friends with everybody they wanted me to help him with other cases uh John Rango got locked up witho he was the wise guy in my crew he they needed me for him but they felt like they couldn't use me no more because I was talking and tainted for them to use me so they they were very upset over that for further cases yeah and you know what jean as bad as they were back in my day because I'm in a little bit different era before you they're a lot worse now they're worse now yeah the whole the whole FBI well I don't even want to get into that because that gets me crazy worse now right now they they're so bad right out in the open they don't even care anymore you know how they are but uh okay so you do Genie and John you go back in for a while okay now you come out are you finished with everything no parole no probation nothing so this is what I did when they put me in for the third time I told my lawyer my lawyer loves me Nancy and that she's buing me for for years she dealt with me um very got very close with her and you Mike my case was very huge for my day I was like the biggest mob they said they call it the real last Mafia case that had everything on it shootings you name it it was a millions of dollars I got a million multi-million dollar house te it was a huge case so the judge block always took that into consideration that I was I hate to say you know I'm not proud of it but I was like a modern day Gano and that's what they had to say I I put away 21 people millions of dollars seized at the end of the day I helped them with a huge k you know I was a part and it was me you know I was the last guy to cooperate but they needed me for everything so judge block always took that into consideration when they were trying to burn me you know the last time I just told him Iran can you please just terminate me please I can't do probation no more they're they're terrorizing me I just can't do it can you they wanted they wanted like three years termination he goes yeah as they're talking this is how he is you have to look him up he's like he writes books to other judges don't like him we have the same birthday me and him so he's like down to earth guy he always asks me about my book and they hated that he liked me they hated that he was my judge and he goes ah you know I seen a lot worse he goes I'm not gonna do that he goes I'm gonna give him six months termination 45 days with the other case concurrent they were Furious I did eight months termination probation and that's it he let he wouldn't he wouldn't fry me Mike he wouldn't hang me for nothing yeah he wouldn't do it yeah he kept on trying to hang he just wouldn't do it and he goes um I'm not going to do that I'm going to give him this and that's it and they were very upset about it the chief of organized crime flew down from DC to come to my satin okay that's how that's how much he didn't like me Keith Edelman he's Trump's prosecutor right now hates me came down from Washington DC said I want his time consecutive judge block refused to do it refused so I got very lucky you know I I I'm I'm here for a reason you know um I have a lot of things going on right now and um I that things that I never thought would be going on in my life and um I'm hoping that you know I could really make it now you know in a right way Well jean let me let me ask you this you know and I I relate this to myself you know we could have been dead or in prison for the rest of our lives no doubt about it right and you're not you know I think I found my purpose in life I know what I've been doing for the last 25 years why do you think you were spared of either a death sentence or life in prison why do you why do you think now that you know yourself you're older you're more mature you got a little bit different outlook on life why do you feel that you were spared and what do you feel your purpose is so I feel like I'm an Entertainer I agree with that I agree everybody says that every actor every friend that knows me says you should have been a stand up comedian and you should have been an Entertainer now um I don't know I mean I Mike I literally had four attempts in my life and every time they tried to kill me they always shot somebody else so I know that I'm supposed to be here literally I mean I watch bullets go past my head shoot my friends through the neck and then the bullet not touch me and I'm the Target so I don't know what the exact reason is I'm supposed to die in prison without a doubt um I don't know I can't call it I mean I'm in the entertainment business right now I'm trying to make it I am gonna re I am a real featured film Pony I'm I'm in a movie um a Hollywood film uh not a big part but I have a a nice few talking scenes um I have a thing going on with my book that's trying to become a TV show so maybe this was the purpose of me being into this entertainment world and being an Entertainer I love it I love doing it I I honestly think you're a natural forward you know I don't think you need to take any acting lessons either I think you could just wing it and be yourself and you'll be fine yeah that's what everybody says just be yourself they said and you're GNA make in this business you know and um I feel like I I feel like I really have a good opportunity I'm only 39 years old I'll be 40 in June you know so I take care of myself I'm trying to you know make it now before it's too late should I say and let me are you uh committed to more nonsense in your life you're going to go straight no more of that stuff no more crap I um all the trouble I get into is um nonsense now Mike it's not even like something where it's like oh Jean barell shot somebody or you know this it's a oh I got into an argument with my girlfriend she called the police on me you know what I mean like it's just like it could happen to anybody in the world and they just make it into a big thing because of who I was so that's all it is it's never like I'm doing what I'm known for because judge BL would have put me in jail forever if he thought that you know he knew I wasn't being who I was it was just nonsense that uh made me look a lot worse than what I am and I have a bad mouth on me sometimes so it it hurt me you know well you know that anything that you do is going to be under a microscope So You Gotta Be You Gotta watch yourself very very carefully and you gotta watch the people around you you know you really do now you gotta watch Jan because you're always a Target in some way may not start out that way but then something happens and boom you got to be careful telling you that yeah and you know like I said even for you you know you grew up you grew up with a household name so you know when you grew up you know I didn't have a household name I was related to one but at the end of the day you know when you grow up with a household name like that you know you're Sunny Francy I've been hearing about your father since I'm probably in diapers you know I mean honestly that's just like the household known name so when you grow up with that in that kind of household you know what most of the time what you're going to be and I Tred to not to that's just you know what's going to happen most of the time Mike it's right in front of you it's it's in your face 247 you know what I mean I tell people that all the time like well how' you get caught up in that you walk out your house in how it Beach there's 25 bookmakers there's 100 loone Chucks and we have four bosses living over there what do you mean how do you get involved in it you walk outside your house it's right in front of your face the whole five families so you know I try to explain that to everybody you know and they don't understand that people from other states well how' you get caught up in the mafia where we're from that's like our culture that's all we knew basically growing up exactly yeah absolutely and people say why did you take that route what do you mean I mean you know and and I I want to discuss this with you because I think it came out you know a lot of people well Sunny's not your real father and all of this listen I don't know anybody else you know my dad I I'll tell you what happened this is crazy Jean but I I don't know if I've said this uh on YouTube before but my dad meets my mom he was married before had three kids he meets my mom she's 15 years years old yeah and she's the Hat check girl at the St Club in Manhattan at the time okay they start kind of a romance my father was trying to divorce his ex his wife but he couldn't you weren't allowed to get a divorce at that time so they said no anyhow my mother gets pregnant at 15 I'm born at 16 uh she's 16 right and I I'm born uh two years later my grandmother rather who was livid because back then you didn't have a child out of wed light you just didn't so she made him she made my mother marry this guy Louis gillow right she made him marry him so they're married and then uh maybe a year later my Sunny's wife runs off just leaves so he was a and leaves his three kids so he was able then to get a divorce so they divorce when that happens my mother divorces this lisis gillow right they get married and meanwhile I'm there right right so I don't know any I didn't ever knew Louis Grill I was two years old three years old so I don't know who he was yeah but you look like him I you know I I know that but you know the way it happened with me Gina was so crazy I was so mad at my mother because my whole life I thought I was the adopted son of Sonny Frances you know right and he treated me excellent he was the best father I could have anybody could have it you know he wanted me to go to school he wanted me to be a doctor he would support me in sports he Tau me great you know and I was really the only one of the kids that really listened to him for some reason nobody else really listened to him like I did because I always wanted to prove myself in his eyes right right and and that's it you know when I finally went to prison when he went to prison rather than I visited him in leworth you know when Joe Columbo was doing a whole the Titan American Civil Rights league and I said Dad I'm not going to school if I don't help you out you're going to die in here you got 50 years you're 50 years old you're going to die in prison and that's when we had a real discussion that's when he proposed me he said okay I want you to you're going to be on the street you're going to be on it the right way you're going to be part of my you know and i' be honest with you he looked at me he said if you ever had to kill anybody could you do it and I said yeah I could do it I said right conditions yeah I'll do it he said that's the right answer and that's how I was proposed from that point on right and I want to ask you that because that's true because people don't understand that with murder in your era you could be called upon any time you have to doal it's not like you could say no when you're involved in that life right I explained that to people like oh just say no first of all if you're a member you're not saying no you can't even say no but if a boss calls upon you to do a murder anyone could be called upon it anybody could be a killer in the 70s and the 80s it didn't even matter that's a question of like your error everybody was a killer because you want to know why you had to do that almost so when a boss calls upon you I tried explaining to these people back then you can't say oh no I quit no I'm not gonna kill this guy okay you're gonna go with him you know what I mean so Absol well think about it if you get that order and you say no well now you know that somebody gave you to order to murder so you're not walking out of the room you know you can't say no there is no no involved there's no once you say yeah I can do it that's it you know that's it and and listen I don't I don't talk about it for for obvious reasons uh Let It Go with that but you know so two and a half years later I get straightened out was there some resentment there was was because if you well you don't remember you weren't born yet but you know the books had been closed since the 50s they weren't making guys there was guys that were waiting for 20 years to be made yes and father said look I need my son he said because I need him to help me you got to push him up front so it took me two and a half years but yeah out of respect for my dad they pushed me up front but you still got to earn it they're not giving it to you for anything you got to earn it so there was some resent from guys at that time you know then fast forward Sunny Frances was the only father I knew right right so listen to this 1991 um when I was on Pearl I just I got violated in 91 but they're writing a book on my life and I'm with the co-author so the co-author goes and talks to my mom and my mom says you know I'm going to tell you something that nobody knows you know Sunny is Michael's real father and she tells him the story yeah she tells him the whole story and she says my son my son could take a DNA test if you wants and it'll come out that way and I didn't want to do it I said Ma you wait I'm 40 something years old you wait all my life to tell me this and then I see my dad my dad says well you know I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to I didn't want it to be disrespectful to your mother because we had an affair you know while I was married I said dad you think I care about that you know but they never said a word to me until I was in my 40s right you know what could I tell you I mean that's but you do look like him yeah well everybody says that you know yeah I mean come on you could it's not like you look like him like literally so I mean it's like you know when you grow up easy to say it it was not only that if you were around my father and any anybody ever said to him that's your stepson forget it he he would go mad he would get crazy start a war right didn't want yeah he was he was upset about that you know how old is he how old would he been he was like a what in the hundreds right he was 103 when died in 2020 yeah he would have been 10 if he wasn't you know what you know what happened to him Jean he was in good health he was in good health covid hits in February of 2020 covid he was one of the first ones to go and they didn't know it was Co at that point because he died in February of 220 right all of a sudden within three days he was dead and then we figured it out afterwards it must have been Co I wanted to tell you something funny I took your back on two things and I got into like big arguments with these people and they come at I don't care so um you made a good point about something and I I like the fact that I could talk to you and people that really were involved and know the life very well and you know and I know and I'm not I'm not here for drama not at all you know a woman cannot be a part of any crew or any family remember you know the deal Mike like I know I don't care what anyone says I don't care what anyone says there's no woman on record there's no woman with Gotti's crew so I'm getting a lot of backlash over it I'm been fighting with this lady and her son they're coming at me hard because I took your back on it and I says what Michael said is 100% true there is no such thing as a woman in a crew on record maybe you were someone side P Frankie Leno these guys whatever that's fine you hung around that's great you were never on record with a crew you were never a part of a mafia family that's impossible there's no such thing as it so I I took your back on it I made a video about it didn't disrespectful but they're coming at me viciously so yeah viciously and uh I don't care I'm just saying you are a captain in the Columbo family in the Heyday did you ever hear of a woman being in a crew or on record in any family in the five families ever never absolutely not 1,000% no that's why I came on that you know when I did a review on that whatever the show was I said who is this woman where'd she come out of this ridiculous ridiculous yeah ridiculous never now you didn't even want to talk to women about what was going on in that life you know we didn't discuss it with our wives nothing listen we created monsters because everybody's coming out the Woodworks now they're all seeing like oh I could do this too and make money and it sucks for the guys that are really telling the real stories because you got these people coming on there saying they killed the pop they did this they that it's just insane stuff I mean know it's insane almost to me now so it's like I'm getting backlash from things but you know I'm glad I can sit here and talk with you face to face because you're you can validate a lot of things because you were a rank in a family in the hey day and you could actually say there's no such thing and they would have to take your word over it more than me because they say you know I was an associate I know the same rules as you know but you could be validated more there's no such thing is there right it's not like we're making this up no such thing at all G I'll have you back all the way absolutely not it's a total lie who any woman that's saying that absolute nonsense BS okay right exactly and you know know that's that's all I want to uh say to you because um you know I'm getting backlash over it and uh I guess to anyone that you talk to that was around or knows anything about Loos Mafia you want to call it no woman could be a member no woman woman could be an associate they're not going to take her on a hit and I can take her on a anything so I just want to clear the air for the guys that really were involved and we sit here and talk about our real stories that really went on we get upset when we see the bull crap you know what I mean so that's what I wanted to say with that yeah you're you're 100% right on that and nobody with any kind of knowledge could would ever say anything other than that you're a th% right that's total BS total to right all right so there you have it I think uh Jean was very honest you know I think he's he's honest to begin with he says what's on his mind it comes right out and I appreciate that and hopefully you saw a little bit of a different side of him right now you know I I I really hope I've seen that and uh I like it and you know what I want him to straighten his life out you know when you go through some of the stuff that you know he's gone through some of the stuff that I want G through I root for people to straighten their life out to change to do something productive you know to get yourself in a better place I root for that and uh for the past 25 years I've been helping people and encouraging them to try to change their life because you know what I believe this for those of you Christian knockers out there you can do that but I believe this for those of us who have been given much much is expected in return what have I been given I've been given my freedom I've been given my life life I have a wonderful beautiful wife I have seven beautiful children seven grandchildren I have a career I've been given all of this and I believe that I uh have a responsibility to give back when I can and if I can be helpful to Jean or anybody else out there that wants to turn their life around and wants to do better wants to make something of themsel uh I agree with that and I don't try to knock people listen until you walk in somebody's shoes it's very difficult really to go out and knock them you don't get it you know you hear things on social media you read something sometimes in the Press not always accurate so I hope Jean presented a different side of himself uh I certainly accept it and um you know we have a friendship and that's it so hope you enjoyed it and how do I always leave you the same way it's never going to change be safe be healthy God bless each and every one of you and I mean that from my heart and to all your families and yes I'll see you next time take care [Music]

Channel: Michael Franzese

Views: 176,882

Keywords: michael, franzese, michael franzese, mafia, mob, mobster, mob boss, mafia boss, colombo, colombo family, colombo mafia, john gotti, american mafia, italian mafia, sonny franzese, sitdown with michael franzese, mob movie mondays, mob stories, mob movie review, gene borrello, former new york gangster gene borrello, gene borrello and michael franzese conflict, gene borrello and michael franzese interview, gene borrello interview, new york gangster, street crime in new york city

Id: WUp48OtHMIU

Length: 58min 45sec (3525 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 11 2024