{"id":163,"date":"2022-04-01T13:46:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mafiatoday.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2022-04-01T13:47:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T13:47:10","slug":"ex-mobster-shows-transformation-is-possible-for-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mafiatoday.com\/colombo-family\/ex-mobster-shows-transformation-is-possible-for-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex- mobster shows \u2018transformation is possible for anyone\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"163\" class=\"elementor elementor-163\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6be59fd elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"6be59fd\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8b8269a\" data-id=\"8b8269a\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b501cca elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b501cca\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 18-04-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>UTICA \u2014<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>Michael Franzese found a path to God and he wants others to do the same.<\/p>\n<p>Franzese, who made millions of dollars for the Mafia by selling wholesale gasoline for which he did not pay federal taxes, offered that message Saturday evening at a North Utica church.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he can do it, transformation is possible for anyone,\u201d Devin Blake, 26, of Deerfield, said after listening to the former mob boss speak at the Redeemer Church on Herkimer Road.<\/p>\n<p>He also was scheduled to speak at the Redeemer Church in Rome Saturday evening.<\/p>\n<p>Franzese, 58, who served eight years in prison, spent much of his hour-long talk recounting his ascent in the mob.<\/p>\n<p>His father was Colombo family underboss John \u201cSonny\u201d Franzese, and the family was the near-constant focus of police scrutiny when Michael was a child, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever family members left their Brooklyn home, \u201ca parade of law enforcement vehicles followed,\u201d the man once nicknamed the Yuppie Don said.<\/p>\n<p>When he speaks to an audience in the Midwest \u2014 Franzese often tours the country to encourage people to make the religious transformation he did in the mid-1990s \u2014 he said he must sometimes offer a primer on what it means to be involved in organized crime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have to do that here,\u201d he told the Utica audience of about 100 people.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, former mobster Joseph Valachi told a U.S. Senate subcommittee in 1963 that Utica had 80 to 100 Mafia \u201cfamily members\u201d in its midst.<\/p>\n<p>Franzese became a \u201cmade\u201d member of the Colombo Mafia family at 24, and rose through the ranks to a Mafia \u201ccapo,\u201d or captain. He said he thought he might one day lead the family.<\/p>\n<p>His father, Sonny Franzese, served time in prison for his involvement with a series of bank robberies. Now 93 and on parole, Sonny Franzese is facing new criminal charges.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday night, Michael Franzese asked audience members to add his father to their prayerbooks.<\/p>\n<p>He said his shift to become a born-again Christian began in the late-1980s when he met his wife, Camille Garcia. They now live in California.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday night, Franzese said he believed that Mafia life now is quite difficult. He said law enforcement investigative techniques are more sophisticated than during the time he was active in the mob.<\/p>\n<p>Now, he said, \u201cYou play in that life, you\u2019re going down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a good criminal,\u201d Franzese said. \u201cI\u2019m afraid to pull a scam on God. The penalty is too severe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That message seemed to resonate with Peggy Hughes, 68, of Deerfield.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did have a life-changing experience,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can see the sincerity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source \u2013 The Observer-Dispatch<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michael Franzese found a path to God and he wants others to do the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ex- mobster shows \u2018transformation is possible for anyone\u2019 | Mafia Today - Your Source for Mafia &amp; Crime News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mafiatoday.com\/colombo-family\/ex-mobster-shows-transformation-is-possible-for-anyone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex- mobster shows \u2018transformation is possible for anyone\u2019 | Mafia Today - Your Source for Mafia &amp; 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