John “Sonny” Franzese the former underboss of the Colombo crime family has been denied compassionate release consideration by a federal prison warden.
Franzese has a long history in the New York mafia and has been an active and high-ranking members of the Colombo family for many years. He has been accused of committing so many murders on behalf of Cosa Nostra that he was unable to keep track of the body count. He is currently serving a 96-month sentence on racketeering and extortion charges for shaking down a Manhattan strip club and a Long Island pizzeria. The 99-year-old mobster is the oldest inmate in the federal prison system and will turn 100 by the time his sentence is completed next June.
“John Franzese“
But the aging NY Mafia leader is now deaf, blind, and confined to a wheelchair and said he has “little time left in my life” in his paperwork. Franzese said he wants to spend the remainder of his life with his eight kids, 18 grandkids, and six great grandkids. According to court documents, he wrote “I present no threat to the community,” and noted the 40 years he has spent in prison throughout his lifetime. Now that his request has been denied by the federal warden he plans to appeal to Federal Judge Brian Cogan who sentences him.
James Gatta the assistant U.S. Attorney said that there needs to be “extraordinary and compelling” circumstances for compassionate release to even be considered. He said this does not apply to Franzese because the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts when he is being housed is fully capable of treating his medical conditions. Considering the elder mobster was still an active member of the mafia at the age of 93 back in 2011 when he was sentenced a compassionate release may be a long shot.
Sonny is Cosa Nostra …. The feds ain’t letting him out even 1 day early. I mean the guys was an active member on the streets and still shaking people down at 90+ years old and is now a mafia legend. Def not getting any compassion from the feds.
This guy is everything a mobster should be, lives eats and breaths La Cosa Nostra till his last breath. Sonny is really a legend, this thing comes before everythhing even your family and he has truly shown he has lived everything down to the books unlike many other guys even including his own sons.
Def aren’t many if any left like him on streets anymore.
Ya there won’t be many guys like him either most of the Cosa Nostra mobsters now a days didn’t grow up in poverty where Cosa Nostra was a way to get out of poverty.
Most people work a 9 to 5 job to get out of poverty. Ironically the same people lionising shitbirds like Franzese are the same fervent racists who complain about how the “blacks” are lazy welfare cheats with an aversion to honest work and propensity for violence.
Most people who work 9-5 everyday to get out of poverty aren’t doing that great at all a lot of them still receive food stamps. Majority of cosa nostra now a days you’re born into it a lot of the guys now didn’t grow up in the streets they sure don’t steal their kids out of the hospital because they couldn’t afford the bill like Gotti did. Cosa Nostra use to be a way out of poverty for a lot of italians growing up. I never said anything about the blacks being lazy and on welfare there isn’t a lot of jobs for anyone right now we don’t manufacture anything anymore we gave all those jobs to mexico, japan, china. We don’t make cars, tvs, nothing anymore.
Considering that he’s deaf, blind, and confined to a wheelchair, and oh, approaching 100 years old, I’d have to agree with his petition of posing no threat to the community. I know that with other, younger, “reformed” mobsters they’ll often throw that phrase around just to attempt an emotional appeal, but in this case, I’d imagine there’s not much he could actually do (criminally-speaking) if he was released.