I Am A Former Mafia Boss (Reddit Ask Me Anything)

read it ask me anything and Michael Franzese a former maid boss in the Colombo crime family starting in the early 80s ask me anything I'll begin answering questions at 2 p.m. Eastern I'm Michael Franzese I'm here to answer your questions I am the son of one of the most feared mafia bosses to ever walk the streets of NY he was an enforcer known to be cold-blooded and extremely deadly I followed in my dad's footsteps and took on the mob life as the made member I made money for the morgue tons of money I know the mob life as well or better than most I am also a person of strong faith I'm ready to answer all your questions ask me anything you like no bounds no limits I have been asked everything under the Sun if I choose not to answer I know how to take the fifth I've done that many times in my former mob life but I assure you I won't this time so join me today and fire away what was it like walking away from the Mafia was it accepted or were you threatened or hounded in any way also what were the actual logistics of your gas tax scam how weren't either the eyes or any federal agency not able to successfully audit you I struggled mightily for years after walking away my father disowned me the family put a hit on me the feds tried to make me a witness lots of pressure very tough and very tough for me personally even though I didn't hurt anyone I felt like I betrayed my oath and it really troubled me only God in time were able to fix that gas tax scheme was complicated but we were way ahead of the authorities they could not figure out what we were doing if my partner didn't turn snitch they would never figured out the scam any fears about your safety today I can't go back to Brooklyn to live or in NY in general wouldn't last but I don't live in fear I am a person of strong faith now God has had my back remember I am the only made man a cop origin that I know of who has walked away from the life publicly not entered a witness protection program and lived it's a god thing my friend not coincidence if you listen closely you can hear the sound of thousands of redditors brains imploding any stories of interaction with other organized crime families such as Russian mob your coozer outlaw bike clubs Mexican prison gangs et Cie a million spend 20 years in the life organized the Russian mob from Brighton Beach in the gas business best partners I ever had I taught them how to defraud the government out of hundreds of millions of dollars of tax money back then they now are deep into Medicare fraud setting up fraudulent medical clinics all over the country would take hours to tell you all the stories take care we have ours does the Mafia still have a big presence in the u.s. are they just better at hiding it now yes not nearly as big as when I was active in the 70s early 90s but still exists don't count it out very resourceful has it evolved to be more of a contact network now or is it still ruled by fear it's ruled by likes on social networks edit Oh Marone somebody got me reddit gold many thanks one like equals one respect one share equals one offer that cannot be refused ignore equals death what is the process of becoming a made man like very intense very solemn very serious I took an oath with a picture of us and burning in my hands my thumb was cut with a knife and blood dropped on the floor the oath is never to violate the Brotherhood of La Cosa Nostra didn't you violate the Brotherhood of La Cosa Nostra by doing this ask me anything r.i.p you slash Kossoff what is the scariest situation you have been in walked into a room one night and thought I was going to get killed I was called in by my boss over money I generated in the gas business that's how it goes you walk in and never walk out when you are in real trouble I was in the right proved it in two but brother my heart was pounding knees weak still don't know why I went I guess just a product of my life back then how nice is your mom's cooking she make good spaghetti my mom and grandmother were the best grandmas meatballs cannot be duplicated and mom could whip up a delicious meal in minutes miss them both but my wife is a great cook blessed I really wanted this post to end in forget about it I see this question asked all the time but never to a legitimate form a mafia boss how accurate are most mob movies television shows if you can recommend one to watch for authenticity which would it be most authentic Goodfellas in Donnie Brasco they mentioned my name in Goodfellas the bar scene I knew those guys very well my era saved Henry Hills life 2x I knew Paul Vario and Jimmy Burke well also and left guns Ruggerio was a good friend those two are the most accurate depiction of that part of the life getting affirmation that gaff Ellis is the truest mob movie from a real-life mob boss this is now my favorite ask me anything thank you stay in touch how can I tell if the steak house across the street from me is a mob joint are there any telltale signs it supposedly was a hot spot in the eighties and is still rumored to be easy who hangs out there mob guys like to eat where they are comfortable with ownership and the clientele and of course the food has to be good we're hot wet they will never find hafez body trust me on that one what was the main appeal of joining the mob for you money power following your dad's footsteps I joined to help my a day get out of prison plain and simple the money and power came for me later on once I got in I wanted both what is the worst thing you have done seen when in the morgue thanks for doing this awesome unfortunately violence is a part of the life if you are a made guy you're going to see it no escape I have seen my share it's ugly how old were you when you first realized something was different about your family and what made you realize it very young my dad was super high profile like the John Gotti of his day law enforcement always after him and sitting outside my house many incidents were them didn't like them very much when I was a kid got into fights in school when kids made remarks but I loved my dad made me tougher kids would attempt to bully you because your fathers are mob boss brave kids I'm aware that you spent approximately three and a half years in prison how were you treated by the other inmates that were aware of your past I spent almost eight years in prison five years then three on a parole violation I had a lot of publicity I had a pedigreed going in I was treated well with respect because I treated other inmates well respect is a big thing in prison for your information both John Gotti and Carmine Persico my former boss were both smacked around in prison guys doing life without parole don't care who you are if you disrespect them they have nothing to lose didn't hurt that Fortune magazine named me as one of the 50 most powerful mob bosses in the u.s. today I learned inmates read 14 magazine Prison rule number 23 don't kill anyone who gets mentioned prominently in leading periodicals did you or other made members get an actual salary or did you just have access to any money you needed if you did get salary was it based on what you brought him and how much was your salary do you have a relationship with your father how thin can you cut your garlic ha no salary you earn for yourself unless you were the boss most Guzzi were not good owners trust me yes he's 96 years old and still in prison very thin we mob guys are experts at cutting garlic we all know movies like The Godfather and shows like Boardwalk Empire are a romanticized version of the Golden Age of the Mafia The Sopranos on the other hand has been praised less being a very authentic mob show my question how accurately did The Sopranos portray the inner workings of the mob the best thing about The Sopranos was how he interacted with his family mob guys also had family issues the business stuff was not real realistic made them look incompetent some guys were but others were pretty damn smart any funny mafia stories what would be the lighter side of organized crime a million of them mob guys can be hilarious read my book I'll make you an offer you can't refuse lots of stories in that one like in all of my books you're naked plug is pretty hilarious in a table itself if you had it all to do over again would you make the same choices with the lifestyle worth all the trouble you went through life on the street and in the mob is a dead end prison or death is the way we'll end today I would not go into that life knowing what I know now I try my best to drug this into the head of our young people gang dangers not worth it for me or for anyone in the life trust me this is a great question we always hear how the mobs have money flowing in but is it worth it having to hide in always in danger not worth it the pressure is always there from the law and your own guys trust me not worth it do you ever see anyone from your old mafia days every once in a while I speak all over the country to thousands of people a month I have had a few encounters it seems that a lot of families have been destroyed by all of the bloodshed and corruption that mafia groups like the Colombo family have perpetrated over the years yet mobsters are generally romanticized in film and on TV do you agree that this is how these groups are generally portrayed do you think that this is harmful what is your take on this with your new outlook on life The Godfather did more to raise the profile of the mob than any other movie yes it's harmful the life should not be glamorous why it's an evil life not saying the men are evil I was one of them that happened to be blessed the life is evil because people die families get destroyed because of a lifestyle I lived it I know what were the most popular methods of intimidation and or extortion just following through with what you say you are going to do if you say I'll beat you with a bat if you don't perform pay you know they will it's knowing you back up what you say that scares people that sounds a lot like good parenting advice how full of bodys is the Meadowlands marshes in NJ I just can't help but think it's loaded not loaded that's a myth how does the mob or other organized crime compare today with your day is it worse better more or less brutal my day was pretty much towards the end of the Golden Age of the mob that began in the late 40s different today I wouldn't want to be a part of it we had some integrity about us respect and honor did mean something with the old-timers today the Russians have gotten pretty violent at times but it's all not what it was what is the percentage of mafia members survived until old age the percent that survived without any work-related injuries if you are a made man you die of old age and die a free man you really accomplished something I have seen many more guys die in jail or from a bullet that I have seen survive the percent are bad howdy would crime families view the more modern organized street gangs a means to an end as partners or just petty criminals not to be trusted petty criminals no respect for human life we chase them from our neighborhoods if there would even dare to enter can you describe the most brutal violent thing you ever witnessed while in the mob the most brutal acts you had committed the DeMeo crew chopped up bodies and buried the parts in cement drums witness death it's not pretty let's leave it at that [ __ ] what is the most in realistic part about the Mafia as portrayed in television and movies it really depends on the movie you're talking about Goodfellas Donnie Brasco realistic The Sopranos if a mob boss was ever visiting a psychiatrist he would be in the trunk of a car by the end of the week along with the psychiatrist but the family interaction was fairly legit father mob groupies like rock stars have and how you would not believe the attraction to that life from men and women alike how do you feel about your past does it haunt you are you proud any regrets I am not proud of my past my wife will tell you that I do have rough nights sleeping at times regrets I would have preferred not to have gone through it but I just move on and try to use my experiences to benefit others how often have you encountered corrupt cops government officials has any nationally known incident ever been influenced by this quite often they are people - everyone is capable of being corrupted regardless of your career but I have met many real good honest ones also what timing I just watched that program about the 10 commandments of the Mafia and now here you are where did you get the idea for the gas-station scheme and since it was getting so big did you have any sort of an exit strategy in case the authorities got too close or would you just keep running the scam until you went down with the ship who was the scariest person you ever encountered and what made them particularly frightening gas tax scheme was one in a million so much money better than drugs and a lot less ugly a guy in the bisque came to me when some other mob guys tried to shake him down and move in on his business I chased the guys away and the two of us devised this scheme to defraud the government out of the tax money on every gallon of gas at its height we sold 500 million gallons of gas a month and kept 2030 cents a gallon of the tax money do the math lots of money my dad was scary saw him go off on people scared because he was no BS he would do exactly what he said no fear in him how often did you partake in the traditional mafia activities of eating gabagool and talking about gabagool I am Italian in every sense love the food all of it hi Michael what is your relationship with your father like these days I know inside the American mob you spoke about it but is there anything else you would like to learn also what was your single best day money-wise whilst in the Mafia and finally will we ever see the sort of organized crime capabilities that Cosa Nostra had ever again thank you I still love my dad he's in prison until 2017 when he will be 100 God willing I feel a bit guilty I haven't visited him as often as I should just so burnt out on prison all my life since mom died last year things have changed a bit between us one day I made over $3 million it was a rush no the mob in my opinion will never see its glory days again at least not in my lifetime thanks for doing this Amer I have one question based on a factoid I recall reading about a while ago did the movie The Godfather made an impact on how you and your fellow mafiosi perceived yourselves absolutely it elevated the status of the Mafia to the general public and even to one another thank you for doing this ask me anything as a former member of the Colombo family I'd like to know what you think is the future of the family as they are the smallest in New York and constantly being hammered by the government do you see any family mergers for example also did you know Greg the Grim Reaper Scarpa seemed like an interesting character with his civil rights work and sociopathic behavior families will not merger if the government keeps pressure on all the families they will continue to weaken them Colombo's and Paulina saw the smallest in numbers but all the families have been hit hard when you walked did you have to leave everything behind everything just about flow you made it to the end you're ducking beasts thanks for watching mate make sure to smash that like button and subscribe for more high quality content

Channel: Sir Reddit

Views: 1,483,770

Rating: 4.9025588 out of 5

Keywords: reddit, askreddit, askreddit funny, top posts, top posts of r/, r/, r/askreddit, reddit top posts, reddit compilation, top posts of all time, askreddit question, askreddit top posts, ask reddit, askreddit reading, subreddit, reddit stories, best of r/askreddit, funny reddit, best reddit posts, best of reddit, reddit ama, ask me anything, reddit ask me anything, r/IAmA, mafia boss, mafia, michael franzese

Id: zsWsEm1XKQ0

Length: 16min 55sec (1015 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 11 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

He's not a reliable source - he's a scumbag who peddles myths: Franseze claims the mob stayed out of drugs when any idiot can look up the pizza connection or how top people in his own former borgata were convicted of heroin trafficking.

He tries to make it sound like he knew about the murder of Hoffa who was killed by the midwest mobs - it's unlikely the Colombos had anything to do with it.

Michael: "I don't want to glamorize that life it's all evil."

five minutes later

"and we stayed out of drugs, never hurt innocent people and walked old ladies across the street."

[u/LizardsThicket]

Franzese was never a boss. He was a captain in the Columbos. He wasn’t even acting boss when the Snake went away

[u/mellowmonk]

I can't stand that AI voice. Is reading really that horrible?

[u/delpiero100]

FAKE BOSS.