Michael Franzese - Liberty University Convocation

Michael Franzese was not just a soldier but a capo and then notorious Colombo crime family he spent the better part of a decade in federal prison on charges including tax fraud racketeering and parole violations I grew up in New York where there are five organized crime families my dad was a underboss in the Colombo crime family back in the 1960s I went to see my dad in Leavenworth and I said dad listen I don't want to go to school anything during the course of that visit he said to me listen if your mind is made up and you don't want to go to school then if you're gonna be on the street I want you to be on the street in the right way and that's how it started for me Michael Franzese was a made member of organized crime his main forte was was making money for the mob in a very short period of time Michael Franzese made over 300 million dollars for the Colombo crime family by far the biggest and most lucrative business enterprise that I got involved in was the wholesale gasoline business in a nutshell we devised a way to sell the gas collect the taxes and not pay the taxes I was there to be in business and to make money real money much money you think you and Michael with your gang stole in your operation several hundred million Life magazine called him the mobs young genius the government calls him one of the biggest money earners in the history of organized crime handsome and high living young man as rich as royalty and royal he is a prince of the Mafia Michael Franzese has been called every name under the Sun by people on both sides of the law made millions lived a flashy life and came known as the yuppie dawn did you fix any games in college absolutely he says he doesn't have 14 million talk he doesn't he has about fifty million how do you know that because I've personally delivered it to him I was notorious maybe infamous maybe sophisticated at times when I was a criminal and you realize that it's a life built on treachery and that money and power are the driving forces I really questioned the life and my commitment to that life at that moment but now the former yuppie Don has transformed himself into the suburban dad a pillar of his California community and a little league manager of renown I got faith in you do it buddy what are you doing is so much fun because he's helping us little kids to learn how to play baseball be honest I've had judges and politicians that are ministers are a lot worse than him and now a former mob guy from the Mafia is coaching third-base and teaching the kids how to hit and run what's so weird about that this is what little leagues all of that has someone can turn around their life what an example for children this is thank you good morning good morning good to be back I was here in 2010 and I was reminded this morning that I was here again to speak to the oldest student athletes back in 2002 or 2003 and before I begin I have to say this I am in I have been in hundreds of churches throughout the country both big and small all over this country but I will tell you this this worship band rocks am I right all right and it really is great to be here and to to speak to all of you I get a real good feeling coming to Liberty and seeing all of you because I know that Liberty is preparing you well for the future and we're going to depend upon all of you someday so it's good to be speaking to you and you know whenever I come and talk my prayer is always the same before I come up onstage realizing that I'm not here by accident this morning every time a speaker comes up there's a lot of work put into that you know that you hear I believe three times a week and there's a lot involved in bringing a speaker up so I'm not here by accident and neither of any of you now some of you may not want it to be here this morning but you figured hey the sopranos is off the air let me go see what the real mob guy is all about right it's okay whatever God uses to get you in the door is okay but you're not here by accident and I realize that God wants to touch your heart this morning through my message it might be one person in this room that's really touched maybe two maybe 10 maybe everybody in the room I don't know and I don't worry about that that's God's deal my prayer is always Lord let me be effective and let me be passionate enough in delivering this message so that you can reach out and touch the heart that you want to touch in this room this morning and I really mean that because like I said I'm just a messenger it's not about me this morning people it's really about what the Lord Jesus has done in my life and I want you to take a real good look at me because I can almost guarantee you this I'm probably the most fortunate most blessed person that's ever going to come up on this stage and talk to you address you about anything and the reason I say that is because and I've been left up to my own to do what I wanted to do in my life follow the path that I was on I need to be dead or in prison for the rest of my life it's what I deserved it's what I earned having spent almost 20 years on the street every day and violation of both God's laws in the laws of man and I realized that if God didn't have a different plan and a purpose for my life then I wouldn't be here today and he's made that crystal clear for many people over the past several years she's got a plan and a purpose for my life like he does for every one of you and you know whenever a speaker comes up here remember this it's not about us it's about what God has done in our life and you have to compare that to your own life and say you know what if the Lord is working in this person's life what is he going to do for me because it's really about you and I really pray that when you walk out of here this morning you walk out a little bit differently than when you walked in that God really does touch your heart and that you realize that you were put on this earth to fulfill a plan and a purpose that God has for you every one of you having an individual gift of talent that God is ready to use and it's really up to you to allow him to use that and that's what it's all about and I believe my purpose in life now is to be an encouragement to all of you and I travel this country quite a bit I'm in a different church every weekend I speak to different groups tomorrow I'll be at Ohio State University I've got events all this weekend all right okay it's not as good as here but it's okay it'll do and I have events all this week and I'll tell you this regardless of what you may hear we're going through some real struggles in this country I hear people every week we're going through some tough times and I want to be an encouragement because I want to tell you if God can do what he's done in my life and what has he done he's given me in my life he's given me my freedom a wife that I adore children that I love a ministry that I never wanted I ran from this but God kept pulling me back and if he can do this for me he can and he will do the same for you for anybody that comes to him and that's really what the message is all about today people I want you to be encouraged because sometimes we get down you know I know you got a lot of pressure here in school a lot of things going on in your life sometimes you got family issues you look to the left and the right you think all that person has it all together and why am i struggling in my life well you know what we all have struggles no matter what they might be no matter what economic level where our in this life we all have something that we're dealing with and all I can encourage you to do is always turn towards God and not away from him and you will see that some point sometime he'll work it all out he has in my life and if you can do it for me he'll do it for you so that's really the message and I'm going to tell you a little mob story you know it's funny when I come to a place like this I got to give you a little mob 101 because fortunately you don't have much of a mafia presence down here when I go to New York I gotta be careful nobody's in the audience that's still mad at me got New Yorkers here alright well hopefully none of you a mob related and I'm ok up here but I'm only kidding but anyway I'm going to give you a little bit of my story and hopefully you understand and see what God has done in my life my dad was the underboss of the Colombo family back in the 1960s one of the five New York Mafia La Cosa Nostra families and that's a very powerful position in that life you have a boss an underboss a capo regime or captain and a soldier some of you might have seen the Godfather that's a little bit before your time but there is a position in that life called console er E and Robert de Bob played that role brilliantly but in The Godfather that was fictional because in order to be a sworn made member of that life in order to take the oath and you do take an oath your father must be Italian my dad in terms of law enforcement investigation media attention very very high profile always under investigation always a major target of law enforcement kind of like the John Gotti of his day I'm sure most of you and many of you heard of John and I grew up a lot differently I'm sure that everybody in this room I grew up hating the police hated them hated law enforcement hated the government and it wasn't because my dad taught me that way he didn't teach me to hate them he taught me to respect the law but it was because of what I witnessed there's a kid growing up law enforcement tactics and techniques against organized crime were very different back then than they are today today everything is very covert they got a lot of undercover informants a lot of high-tech surveillance equipment a guy can be under investigation and not really know about it but back in my day when they were under investigation law enforcement wanted them to know about it and for a period of about 10 years when I was growing up my dad was under investigation from eight or nine different agencies FBI IRS Queen's detective Brooklyn DA's office you name it they were on him and every one of these agencies would have a car parked around my house 24 hours a day seven days a week I was one of seven kids whenever we as a family would lead to go anywhere we had a parade of law enforcement vehicles following us everybody knew when we were coming into town and I witnessed some things that were kind of unpleasant that's a rough detail every once in a while the law enforcement people can get out of hand I remember one night we were going into a restaurant as a family sat down at the table had a bite to eat all the law enforcement people filed in afterwards they sat in the table behind us one guy a Nassau County detective he got a little out of sorts he passed by the table made a nasty remark to my dad he didn't like that you don't disrespect my father especially in front of his family my dad jumped up went right after the cop crowded restaurant cop got scared my dad was a tough guy pulled out his gun right in the middle little restaurant everybody went crazy me and my brother jumped in between him separated and pulled them apart you know normal stuff you do when you were a kid and so I didn't like them very much back then but I want to make this very clear right now so all of you young people here I do not feel that way anymore I finally realized in my life that they were the good guys and we were the bad guys at least most of the time look any walk of life anybody can get out of hand we're all human but they're the good guys and we were the bad guys you know what people I got to tell you some it's amazing how God can not only transform a heart and obviously he can but how he can transform a mind how this whole distorted sense of you I had growing up what good was bad and God and bad was good God was able to fix that and today some of my dearest friends are in law enforcement Chief of Police in Beverly Hills his first in command brothers in Christ dear friends of mine who'd have thought right and I'll tell you this I deliver a very very strong anti-crime message to young people all over this country I go into detention centers I go into high schools I speak with these gangbangers and I tell them straight out and this is a good message for all of you here you cannot get away with criminal conduct in America anymore forget about it law enforcement is too sophisticated they got too many weapons you go that route you're going down you like to forget about it huh I got a lot of those sayings as we go along you'll hear more you can't get away with it anymore you go that route you're going down you must respect the law in this country and people will want to tell you this this is a good lesson for you to learn throughout your life remember this you are who you hang with in your life you hang with a bad crowd I don't care if you come from the best school you got the best parents you got all the money in the world you hang with the wrong crowd you're going to be known to be a wrong kind of person you must surround yourself with good people in our case people that love the Lord people that we can begin and stay in fellowship with it is very very important and you're going to see that throughout your life but back then it was different and I love my dad I didn't care what people said about him what they read in the newspaper kids would make remarks in his school yards I'd fight and so you get that dad's a mafia dad we fight he was a great father good husband to my mother originally didn't want this life for me he wanted me to go to school and be a doctor he said son stay off the street get education that's where it's all about and my dad was very supportive me when I was a kid growing up I was kind of a jock I played all three sports my dad would never miss a game no matter what he was doing I'm playing ball he would show up mob business legit business he'd be there I'll never forget I'd be playing baseball right I'd be on the field I'd be up to bat happened every time I look out at a corner my eye here comes dad he drive up in a big black Cadillac or a black Lincoln that's the car he drove he'd pull right up to the field he never went to the parking lot right up to the field right he'd get out of the car he'd always be dressed sharp in a suit never dressed any other way always have five or six guys with him he would never travel alone they'd get out of the car start walking into the stands I'd be up to bat the umpire take one look at that crew never call strike three on me when he's seen that I used to say hey papi a very good from my batting average I played football nobody would tackle me when he was in the stands it's good to have a dad in a mob when you play sports and he was great and he got in some real trouble back in the 60s he was indicted several times was it very serious crimes he went to trial a few times in the state he beat all of those cases but then in 1966 he was indicted in federal court from masterminding a nationwide string of bank robberies after a lengthy trial he was convicted and sentenced to 5500 years in prison in 1967 after Lou in 1970 right after losing all his appeals he was shipped off to Leavenworth Penitentiary to do his time I was a pre-med student Hofstra University when Dad went away I was devastated Figgy he was 50 when he went in at 50 on top of that he'd never come out of prison alive just this on his side today my dad is 95 years old he's done 34 years in prison since 1970 in and out five times and each time for violating his parole and each time for associating with another felon or somebody alleged to be an organized crime when you are a federal parole you're not allowed to do that when I was on parole had 526 people on my separation list they give you a list tell you these people you can't associate with some of them I never heard of some of them were dead they don't even let you go to a cemetery and meet with anybody a my dad he kept violating that he would come out meet with people send them back five times I went to see him four years ago he was in Milan Michigan in a penitentiary on his fifth violation I said dad come on man you're getting too old for this stop meeting people he said son what do you want me to do I don't know anybody it's not a felon even you're a felon I said I know that dad but you're allowed to see me we finally straighten that out but I want to tell you these people the sad thing about my dad he got out on that last violation he got indicted again on another racketeering case convicted at trial and sentenced to another eight years in prison and for my dad to come out of prison alive he has to live to be a hundred and one prospects are not good and my dad at the age of 95 is the oldest living made man in this country he's been in this life almost 66 years but people I got to tell you when God isn't in the foundation of your family things happen and my dad I love him but he never really got his life straightened out but I will tell you this I've been praying for my dad for over 20 years last time I was here at Liberty I asked you all to pray for Sonny that he would come to the Lord seven months ago in a jail cell my dad at the age of 94 accepted Christ thank you and thank you for all your prayers so at least I know I'm gonna be with him up in heaven and that's the important thing and Joe Colombo was the boss of my family back then he kind of took me under his wing I started to meet a lot of my dad's friends you know I was a pre-med student at Hofstra University my dad's friends were saying Mike what are you doing going to school if you don't get on the street and help your father out he's gonna die in prison I was very affected by that I went to see Dad and penitentiary said dad I'm not going to school anymore if I don't get on the street and help you out you're gonna die in here he was upset didn't want that for me we kind of went at it a little bit I was pretty headstrong as a kid my dad knew my mind was made up and he said okay he said but if you're gonna be on the street I want you on the street the right way in his mind the right way was to become a member of his life he said go home somebody's going to be in touch with you do whatever you're told that was it he didn't give me any further instruction he didn't tell me what was required of me he just figured I had it in me he wasn't sending me into the lion's den he knew I could handle it go home and do what you're told and for me I didn't push and dad I loved him so much whatever he wanted me to do I was ready to do I had blind faith and what my father asked me to do and you know when you finally come to this relationship with Jesus and if I wasn't giving my testimony on people I'd be talking all morning about a relationship with Jesus because that's what this life is all about and when you finally realize that you have a relationship with him you're gonna look back in your life and I guarantee it's going to happen with all of you you look back in your life and you're going to say you know what Lord now I get it now I understand why you put this person in my life now I understand why you allowed me to go through this struggle why I had this joy this grief you're using all of these experiences to prepare me for what my purpose is in life and you're going to see that all of your experiences whether good and God will use them to fulfill a purpose in your life and you're going to see that and yes even your sinful experiences now God doesn't ever cause us to sin but will he use those sinful experiences of course and I ask you this if God didn't use sinful people and sinful experiences who would he have to use so don't ever look back and say oh I blew it I did this I did that God can't use that with the enemy meant for bad God will turn and use for good and remember that that's real important so I had blind faith and because of this incident which was very important my dad was proposing me into a criminal lifestyle but it was more important for me later on because this blind faith when I finally came to Christ people I couldn't accept him blindly I challenge God and I challenge them because of this situation here I said God I followed my father blindly and look where it got me and I'll get to that it got me in a bad place and in my case take it a step further I took a blood oath I surrendered my life to La Cosa Nostra when you enter that life you give it all to them body mind and soul and that got me in a bad place I said God wait a second I did this twice in my life and it worked out bad I can't do this again if the Bible truly is your word the blueprint for my life written by men but inspired by you and if Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven black and white no gray area only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ then God you need to prove it to me you need to show me the evidence and people I know a little bit about evidence I've been to trial five times I've been to more grand juries than there are people in this section of this room I know every standard of proof that exists in our criminal justice system I've been in front of the Supreme Court on constitutional issues in my dad's case I understand the law evidence has been a major major part of my life and when I finally opened up this heart and my stubborn mind and I said God show me prove it to me I found out that there is more evidence not fairytale stuff not conjecture more evidence to prove that the Bible is truly God's Word and that Jesus is our risen Savior because I'm not putting my faith in anybody that's dead buried in a tomb dead people can't help you there is more evidence to prove that than there is for anything else that exists in the world and if you give yourself the opportunity to challenge God and allow him to show you this and God doesn't get mad when you challenge him when you challenge him he knows that you're ready to open up your mind in your heart and look for the truth and once you realize that people you will become a strong soldier in the army of Jesus Christ because you realize it's the only way to go in life and God prepared me through that time I left there that day a captain and a family picked me up and took me to see the boss Joe Colombo had been shot and seriously wounded he eventually died from wounds a new boss took over his name was Tom DiBella i sat with Tom he said Mike I got a message from your father he said you want to become a member of our life is that true I said yes he's well here's the deal from now on 24 hours a day seven days a week you're on call to serve this family and that means if your mother is sick and dying and we call you to service and you're at her bedside you leave your mother's side you serve us from now on we're number one in your life before anything and everything when and if we feel you deserve this privilege the honor to become a member will let you know it a mob is not a business people it's a way of life you got to be in it mind body and soul we affect everybody around us if you don't do it that way you don't survive I left there that day I was 21 22 years old same age as some of you in here maybe I was in kind of like a pledge period where I had to do anything and everything I was told to do to prove myself worthy could have been something very menial a lot of discipline in that life a lot of alleged respect a lot of rules and regulations and I want to be perfectly honest with you this morning because you need to understand what the Lord has done in my life and you need to be encouraged that whatever he's done in mind he certainly can do for you that life at times is very violent and if you're part of the life you're part of the violence and there is no escape and I think you understand what I mean if anybody tells you differently they're either not being honest with you or they weren't a made member of that life after about a year I proved myself worthy I was called into a room again with five other gentlemen or was Halloween night 1975 and that night the six of us Colten became sworn made members of the Colombo crime family I took that old very seriously back then I take it seriously today even though I don't consider myself a member of the life anymore you come into the life you don't sign a contract there's no retirement age they say when you leave that life either leave in a coffin well you join the government and enter a witness protection program obviously I've done neither at this point in time very solemn ceremony meant to be very imposing dimly lit room late at night the six of us walked into a room individually we walk down the aisle the boss was seated it like the head of a horseshoe configuration the underboss and the consul eerie to his left and right and all the captains were alongside of them I walk down the aisle stood in front of the boss held out my hand he took a knife cut my finger some blood dropped on the floor this is a blood oath I cupped my hands he took a picture of his Saint Catholic altar card put it in my hands a little flame it didn't hurt it burnt quickly it was merely symbolic and he said something to me that night then I don't recall ever hearing in my life before and I grew up as a Catholic I went to Catholic school from kindergarten right through high school I was an altar boy the whole bit but for some reason Catholicism to me was like a subject in school and I'm not bulimic Catholics just didn't work for me I didn't realize again that this whole life was about a relationship with Jesus and when he said this to me it was the first time I heard it he said tonight Michael Franzese you are being born again into a new life until our Cosa Nostra violate what you know about this life betray your brothers and you will die and burn in hell like the Saint that's burning in your hands he said do you accept and I said yes I do first time I was born again people I was born into a criminal lifestyle how far away from God's grace can you be you think about it and yet in His grace and His mercy he had his design on me and he brought me back I left there that day the other five guys went in they all took the oath you come into the life you come in as a soldier I was motivated to do two things I wanted to get dad out of prison told you about that and I want them to make money my dad said in this life you make money it translates to power you saw the DVD no need to get into that it wasn't important I knew how to use that life to benefit me in business I went on to make a lot of money 1980 to Boston my family call my purse ago who's now doing life in prison he came to me he said Mike you're doing a good job I'm gonna make you a cop on a team captain and that's how the process goes boss says you're a captain that's it and from 1980 until about 93 94 when I consider myself formally removed from the life I operated in that capacity and I want to tell you where I was in 1984 when I believe God started to make this transition in my life 1984 I'm a cop on a team captain in a family honestly they were grooming me to be the boss or the underboss the boss had a son we came in at the same time our dads were grooming us to take over the family boss underboss whoever took what position whatever way it worked out I became a major target of law enforcement I was indicted five times I went to trial five times to federal racketeering cases I beat every case I beat Rudy Giuliani in 1984 he was the US attorney in Manhattan before he became the mayor and presidential hopeful I was the first mob guy he indicted under the RICO statute I was the lead defendant I had 15 co-defendants the day of my arraignment in the courtroom Rudy came over to me he said Francis if I convicted on this I'm going to give you double what your father got you're going to get a hundred years that's the kind of time that would give him mob guys back in the 80s I said hey Rudy bring it on beat you guys four times already let's go for round five dumb thing to do you don't ever antagonize law enforcement more they don't need any more incentive to come after you but I was young and dumb at that point in time but fortunately after a seven-month trial I was acquitted some of my co-defendants were convicted they got 30 years if I lose that case I'm not here today so beat all those cases honestly I'm bringing in eight nine million dollars a week into my operation I got my own jet plane helicopter house in Florida house in La House in New York right I got it going on who's better than me top of the world MA beat all of these cases at the age of 31 gonna be the boss of the family got all the money I need now did I believe in God back then sure I did why because it makes sense to believe in God when I look around me it makes sense intelligent design makes sense I don't believe in evolution people I don't think I got anything in Conklin comma with a crocodile or a snail I don't think I evolved from an ape because if I did why still here don't make sense to me I believe one day evolutions going to be proven to be the biggest joke ever played on mankind it doesn't make sense God makes sense but did I have a relationship with him no he was doing his thing I was doing mine and then something happened among many things I was doing back then I was making movies I had a production company in LA friends of mine came over to me Smokey Robinson leon isaac kennedy were friends they had a screenplay for a breakdance movie called nights of the city a lot of music a lot of dance a lot of rap music but that's when you can listen to rap music on a radio not like today forget about this stuff today but back then it was cool we had the Sugar Hill Gang Run DMC Kurtis Blow The Fat Boys old-school rap I like those guys right I said hey I'll make the movie if we can film it in Florida I got a house down there I like the warm weather let's do that so we're gonna film this in Florida I got everybody staying in a hotel in South Florida I bring in pests and crew from LA to work in the film and 50 dancers from a professional dance company to dance in the film we're in pre-production one day we're all sitting by the pool getting ready to film beautiful day in Florida the sun is shining I'm just sitting by the pool minding my own business drink in my hand talking with some of the guys and you young men you'll appreciate this and if you don't now you will later on trust me I'm sitting there and all of a sudden out of the water comes this gorgeous 20 year old girl I see her she was the most beautiful woman I ever saw in my life everything went in slow motion it was like a Pepsi commercial right I seen her she said she had like a dancer's body I thought you might have been a dancer the choreographer was sitting next to me I said hey Jeff is this one of your girls he said yeah I said what's her name he said Camille I said bring her over I want to meet her I figure bigshot producer she want to meet me right so she comes over I introduced myself towards Camille I'm your producer I want to get to know you a little better let me take you to lunch she says okay very sweet very polite beautiful smile got me right so I set up this restaurant on top one in a major hotels I got everything going but the violins I figure no problem she'll come on sweep her off her feet she's mine I'm up there 15 minutes 20 minutes a half an hour 45 minutes later she stood me up stood up a mob guy imagine a man she didn't know I was anyway I see her again the next day I said Camille what happened she doesn't make an excuse since then I got to make myself feel better so I make an excuse for her I said where you rehearsing she was a hot dance - were you busy she says yeah I saw her let's try it again we said another time in a place I go she stood me up again now she did this to me five times now if she was sitting here she would roll her eyes she would say stop exaggerating it wasn't five times it's a no excuse me I was the offended party I wasn't used to rejection guys remember when they rejected it was five times trust me I want this girl she don't want to have anything to do with me right what finally we're having a cast meeting one night it's 9:30 at night she's coming out of the meeting she's with her friends she's upset and I noticed cuz I got my eye on her I figure out this is it tailor-made for me I got to fire somebody whatever her problem is I'm gonna solve it I'm in I go and see it we start to talk she finally opens up to me she tells me she was from Anaheim California Disneyland she used to dance there and Knott's Berry Farm she had no clue what she was getting into with me and she tells me how mom and dad are upset never been away from home this long some crazy things happening on the movie said that she didn't agree with you know those sets can get kind of wild young people music and dance but I'm saying to myself you're a dancer what's the big deal but then I start to think she never used to come out later on we used to hang out in some of the clubs she danced go back to her room one or two friends that was it and in the conversation somehow it comes out that she says I'm a girl of faith or I'm a believer or Christian something like that it's well you know I'm Catholic we got something in common let's talk write anything to get to know her better long story short cut to the chase I felt very much in love with this young woman and she's now my wife of almost 27 years and there's no doubt thank you there's no doubt that she was the catalyst that God used to lead me to the Lord and the reason I say that people someone can lead you to the Lord but nobody can make you accept him that's very personalist between you and God and launch story short she took me home after we got to know each other a little bit to meet her mother my mother was the most godly woman I've ever met in my life you meet her for two minutes your name goes into her prayer book she had a prayer book like a telephone book I'm telling you okay and I'm around these two women who really loved the Lord I'm falling in love with this woman and here's the thing people here's how God works the reason I told you where I was at that point in time is because I'm at the top of my game I'm mob guy all the way that was my life I love my father I'm gonna be the boss and I meet this woman and all of a sudden my love for her is becoming more powerful than this lifelong bond I had what my dad more powerful than his blood oath that I took to La Cosa Nostra how do you how do you figure this out you think it was a coincidence or you think it was about design I'm gonna be honest with you she wasn't the first beautiful woman I have met mine life but there was something about her and God has made it crystal clear to me now that something was her love for the Lord I always tell her you were a plant God put you in my life and she says yeah I was and she led me to the Lord long story short cuz I'm running short on time I'm gonna marry this girl but I know that my life was a direct contradiction to everything these women believe now how to make a change so I'm thinking of how I'm gonna get away from the life haha I had a plan they were going to indict me on another case I'll take a plea I'll do some prison time I'll marry Camille I move out to the west coast I'll give the government some money when I get out of prison I'll have parole and probation the guys know I can't be in touch with them I'll move out to California and maybe have two tenant twelve years the guys in New York will forget about me that was my plan wasn't God's plan he wasn't gonna allow me to backdoor it but that was my plan and you know what you're gonna find out in life sometimes we walk parallel to God before we have this relationship with him he's got his design on us and we're doing things but we don't realize that he has a plan so what happens I marry Camille but I married hope for me I didn't marry her for God and I did leave the life I took a plea ten-year prison sentence 15 million dollar restitution I gave him the plane a helicopter a whole bid I figured I'd do four or five years on a ten I get out of prison have parole and probation Camille and I would live happily ever after but I did it for me not for God but you know what God was doing at that time he was standing up there and he was saying good job Mike and married this girl Christian girl good God good job you left a life that's great can't do anything with you when you're running around the streets of Bulacan committing crimes but you don't understand I have a plan for you you alongside of me and one day we're gonna intersect and you're gonna understand what this all means and I guarantee he's working like that in your life if you don't get it yet God is working in your life because if you're in here he's got a hold of your heart you're coming to this school he's gotcha and he will never let you go so make it easy on yourself start right away boom we get married I go off to prison again long story short while I was in prison I was put into position where I had to make a decision whether or not to renounce my life I did and all hell broke loose in my life boss and my family contract on my life my father disowned me they had to lock me down in prison I get out of jail I'm on parole for 13 months the feds are all over me Francis you're a dead man anyway words all over the street cooperate with us we'll put you in a witness protection program will preserve your life and that of your families I didn't want that people I just wanted out of life I didn't want to hurt anybody they didn't take no for an answer the 13 months I spent on parole the worst time of my life and my wife might put that poor woman she had no idea when I left that house if I was coming back home again after 13 months I walk out at a bank one morning the feds are all are there 15 agents there they slapped the cuffs on me throw me in the paddy wagon going to the bank lien all my bank accounts took my car went to my house with a search warrant cleaned me out went into my wife's purse took every dime out there told her you don't work this is all your husband's money were indicted him again on another racketeering case and we're violating his parole they had it with me because I wouldn't cooperate they drive me down to the federal lockup in in LA MDC and on the way down they say Francie's we don't want you to cooperate anymore you will never see the street again we're indicted you on new charges violating you on parole you're done you're finished they throw me in that six-by-eight cell ready to transport me back to Brooklyn in the morning and here's my situation I said it's over I'm done a new racketeering case they took all my money I don't have money for a lawyer you can't beat these cases with a good lawyer without it forget it you're not doing it with a public defender I said my wife she waited for me five years in prison thirteen horrible months on parole we got two kids now I'm going to lose the girl I did all of this for 20 years old why would she wait for me now going to jail forever I said they can't put me out in the yard there's death threats all over me I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in this six by eight cell people I want to tell you this I have felt every emotion you can feel in life from ecstasy right down to grief and everything in between I let a pretty full life by far the worst emotion you could ever experience in your life is hopelessness when you feel it's all over everything that's dear to you is gone it's done you're in his deep dark hole you can't get out it's the worst feeling in the world my heart hurts so much that night it was a physical pain I couldn't endure it you can call me a coward weak whatever you want it was so painful I wanted to lay my head on that pillow and not wake up again a prison guard walked by myself he said Frances you don't look good are you okay I said I don't feel good get away from me I chased him he left he came back about a minute later he had this book it was a Bible he pushes it through the slot on the door it fell on the floor I hear two thump I'm kind of groggy I looked down I saw it was a Bible I was mad I don't want a Bible I wanted a bottle of Prozac I saw him I wanted to forget what I was going through and I was angry with God because I had accepted him but I couldn't surrender to him and I believe your acceptance of Christ is made whole in your surrender I picked up the Bible I was so angry at threw it against that cinderblock wall it took me about 30 seconds I said you know what I got everybody in a world mad at me I don't need God mad at me it's only me and him in this cell and I cried I said God if you're up there you need to help me I can't deal with this give me something to make me feel better I opened this book I had never read the book of Proverbs before and the first verse that I came through that touched my heart proverbs 16:7 when a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord even his enemies are at peace with him and I was convicted because I knew everything I did for God everything I did up to that point I did for myself I didn't do for God and he convicted me even your enemies have peace with you I had nothing but enemies that night it motivated to move to rout it read on a little bit more people and I came to the verse that's been the verse in my life and it should be the verse of every one of your lives proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 & 6 trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not on your own understand and in all of your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight God spoke to my heart and I want to tell you this I'm gonna do a book signing for all of you later you will never see my signature without that verse underneath because my signature no mean a darn thing just my name on a piece of paper but what I right underneath it every single time because I want to bring your attention to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to God above and that's why you'll see it under there every time if you don't see that it's not my signature it's a fake ok I promise you that I surrender to the Lord that night I said God show me prove it to me the big racketeering case fell apart I did spend three more years in prison I spent twenty nine months and seven days in that hole twenty-four hours a day seven days a week me and God and I thank God for that time because he prepared me I challenged him I read my Bible inside out and upside down how many times I read over four hundred books I studied every faith that you can imagine I became a follower of Jesus Christ and my Lord God because he opened up my heart in my mind and I saw the evidence and I said God I don't have a choice I'm surrendering to you take my life I get out of prison I never thought for a million years I'd be doing what I'm doing now people I'm speaking all over the world I've written four books I'm on my fifth they're doing a movie about my life they're going to production in June the same producers that produce Soul Surfer and I promise you all this if that movie doesn't honor God I will never allow it to hit the screen because it's all about giving honor and glory to our Lord and Savior I'm doing a TV show for the History Channel in June of July my book blood covenant you want to read a mob story guys it's a mob story I don't sugarcoat anything ladies it's a love story story about me and my wife and how we got together and really it's a story about but read the inside cover the book you want some proof that when God's got a plan and a purpose nothing's going to get in the way everybody predicted my death when I walked away inside cover Life magazine if he holds the weight of this promise you'll mark the first time a high-ranking member of the Mafia will publicly walk away from his past ed MacDonald head of the organized crime strike force Mike prosecutor on national TV in 1995 quote I wouldn't want to be in michael franzese's shoes I don't think his life expectancy is very substantial he was very diplomatic Bernie Wells the FBI agent followed him to the podium national television he wasn't as diplomatic he said quote he will get whacked and I think you know what that means in street term at least the guys do my mother I pray for my son every night people the night I walked into that room Halloween night 1975 and took that oath there was six of us that night I'm the only one alive today not one of them died of natural causes lastly I saw the Fortune magazine article 50 biggest and most powerful mob bosses in the country was written in 87 a huge article that had a chart with the 50 of us on there I was the youngest guy on a list number 13 in rank five behind John Gotti today out of that list of 50 43 of them are dead three of them that I know of a doing life in prison and I'm here to talk to you about my Lord and Savior and my hero in life Jesus Christ amen people when God has got a plan and a purpose for you remember this nothing is going to stand in the way and I want to leave you at this you people here are the future of America I ask you to go out and do what our Lord commanded you to do to preach the good word to all of creation because this country is going to be in your hands and you know what knowing what I know about liberty I feel real comfortable about that because in Word and in deed you're gonna represent our Lord and Savior and you are going to make a difference and I appreciate that thank all of you god bless you and before I leave I want to introduce somebody to that's very special to me Cody come on up here real quick he's going to be a future come on up Cody he's going to be a future student here at Liberty and he is a I'll tell you what he knows more about conservative politics than I do and I'll tell you that and he loves the Lord as much as we all do here come here Cody I want you to give to the hand to this young man because he's already doing his job spreading the word okay Thank You Cody and he will be sitting here one day and this young man is going to make a difference we're Facebook friends I'm on Facebook and Twitter and all Twitter all that stuff so you can get ahold of me this young man is going to make a difference like all of you so I hope one day you'll welcome him god bless you all see you later at the book signing thank you

Channel: Liberty University

Views: 38,337

Rating: 4.8746986 out of 5

Keywords: Convocation, Liberty University, Liberty, college, university, school, Christian, education, Michael Franzese, Franzese, mafia, Colombo, NY, salvation, transformation, mob, motivator, author, speaker, student, campus, testimony

Id: TfIqV1-BIJM

Length: 44min 1sec (2641 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 06 2012