John Franzese
| John Franzese | |
|---|---|
Mug shot of John Franzese taken after his arrest.
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| Born |
February 6, 1917 Naples, Italy |
| Other names | "Sonny" |
| Criminal penalty | Imprisonment of twelve years (1967), imprisonment of eight years (2010) |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated at Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts |
| Spouse(s) | Cristina Capobianco-Franzese |
| Children | 7 |
| Parent(s) | Carmine "The Lion" Franzese and Maria Corvola |
| Conviction(s) | Bank robbery (1967), extortion (2010), parole violations |
John "Sonny" Franzese, Sr. (born February 6, 1917 Naples), is an Italian-born American longtime member and current underboss of the Colombo crime family. He is currently the oldest federal prisoner in the United States. Arguably, Franzese has been famous as the current oldest active member of the American Mafia. In 2016, he was the oldest person in federal custody at age 99. In 2017, Franzese turned 100 and is therefore the only centenarian in federal custody. Franzese is listed as an associate producer of the 2002 film This Thing of Ours, which stars James Caan.
He was born to Carmine "The Lion" Franzese and Maria Corvola, although his birth year is a source of confusion. Federal prison records say that he was born February 6, 1917. However, his son Michael Franzese says that his father was actually born in 1919. According to some sources, Franzese was born at sea on the ship that brought his parents to New York.
Raised in New York City, in the late 1930s Franzese joined the Profaci crime family (later named the Colombo crime family) under boss Joseph Profaci. Franzese bore a close physical resemblance to boxer Rocky Graziano, one of his friends. His first arrest came in 1938, for assault. In 1942, in the midst of World War II, he was discharged from the United States Army because he displayed '"homicidal tendencies" Although never being arrested for it, court papers accused him of committing rape in 1947.
Franzese operated out of New York City and New Jersey and was involved in racketeering, fraud, and loansharking. He is believed to have been elevated to caporegime or captain in the Colombo family in the mid-1950s and by 1964 he had been promoted to underboss. In 1966, Franzese was able to avoid a conviction for murdering a rival and dumping the body into a bay.
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