Further to the Leonetti debate (I think it's an interesting one) I think his story is very credible for the most part. How he has retold the events that took place, and the events he was involved in, strike me as very genuine. And he could have done way more to self aggrandize himself in the 30 years or so he's had to do it than just write Mafia Prince. He's clearly not all that interested in his own fame in the way a Gravano or a Franzese or even a Pennisi is.

BUT....I don't buy that he went to prison and then had this great epiphany that he needed to play for team USA because he just realized his Uncle was a delusional paranoid psychopath. Leonetti had gone along with that ride the entire time - rolled the dice on trial and lost - got 45 years - then sat in his cell for a couple of days before he decided "fuck this". That's when he "got the courage" as he described it in his A&E interview to call the FBI and tell them he wanted to talk. That's the part I take umbrage with - he just can't own the fact that he couldn't handle the idea of doing the time. That was the reason he flipped, not anything else. Not his son. He had no interest in quitting the life when his son was born and growing up - not until he was sitting in that cell. It was the 45 years that did it and nothing else.

I hate it when guys pussy out and then turn around and give some BS justification. It's the second part that really gets me. I'd respect it more if they just said "yeah I pussied out."

It's just like that ridiculous William Cutolo Jr. interview where he says he was about to burst in and kill Jackie DeRoss and the guys involved in his dad's death when at the last minute the light hit a photo of his son and he realized he couldn't get sent away and abandon his son. What complete bullshit! He may well have gone there with a gun but in that moment where the light supposedly hit the photo what really happened is he realized he was about to do something which would cause the entire Colombo family to rain down fury on him until he was tortured, killed and dismembered. That's why he didn't do it. No bullshit about a photo of his son. So of course he had to co-operate... it was his only choice.

Oh, please!