What do you think of Michael Franzese ?

I think that he has more money than he's saying and also do you think he killed anyone ?

I think he hinted at himself killing someone in one of his documentaries but i dont think it has been confirmed, he certainly wasnt charged with murder so i dont think he would ever come out and say it. When he was found guilty he had to forfeit like 14 million dollars, but im pretty sure he has been living comfortably so he must some money stashed away, although he does alot of documentaries and been on a shit load of other tv programs so he has probly made a good deal of money from that as well.

He looked like a little sissy, but ya can't argue with the money he was making !!!

Think its easy for alot of these reformed mafia guys to lecture a young kid bout " the life ", but at the same time hes already reaped all the benefeits of crime that it makes it hypocritical for him to judge anyone else. He met his wife when he was producing/directing some movie, obv she was attracted to the money/power, doubt they would of gotten together if he was the janitor on the set. Would respect him alot more if just lived his life quietly , instead hes on tv alot and has written several books.

He's a bullshit hypocrite like Frank Calabrese Jr. and Frank Cullotta in Chicago. The only difference is that Franzese made a lot more money than the other two goofs.
However, if the Judge ordered Franzese to make $14 million restitution, then I would say he was a VERY rich hypocrite compared to the other two Chicago idiots who weren't made guys and one of them stole from his father and is a fucking addict.

It seems from what I'm reading here that the posters believe that once a person lives a bad life he's not allowed to repent or reform. Why can't a person change their ways? Yes, he made a lot of money before he became a Christian. Do any of you have evidence that he's extorted people since then? Evidence that he stole from people since then? And what is hypocritical about him renouncing his former life? I don't get it.

I actually believe he is one of the few that really have changed. Hes really one of the only guys that got out of the life after they did there bid, he couldve easly have rated to avoid prison, but he didnt and that also says a lot about him. He does a lot of work with the youth and with the church and seems like hes actually a real "born again" guy.

Faithful1,
Actually, if what you and Dellacroce say is true about Franzese, then I retract my assessment. You're right , I don't know the guy and was only going by other guys similar to him. Yes, it is possible to change. I didn't know he was actually 'Born Again'. If really true, then yes.

I can tell you that Frank Calabrese Jr. and Frank Cullota are are hypocrites, especially Frank Jr.

Regards Frank Jnr. why do you have that view? Yes he was a druggie who stole money from his father.

But his father was a psychopathic homicidal maniac who beat the shit out of him many times. He tried several times to leave the life.

He testified against his father. I'm not saying you're wrong but...

... that says a whole lot more about the father than him.

Imo there are ALOT worse turncoats than FC Jnr.

I don't believe everything Frank Jr. said about his father. If you read the Family Secrets transcripts, Frank Sr. was actually trying to help his son. He actually cared about him in a strange perverse way.
Drug addicts are lying, manipulating people who cannot be trusted at all.
If Frank Jr. had not stolen his father's money, he would not have become a rat. He DID it because he STOLE the money.

Anyway, you asked and I answered. That's my feeling on it.
I hate what he did to his father. That's the classic behavior of an addict.

I suppose I have to say that we respectfully disagree about Frank Jr.

Always appreciate our dialogue Chicago.

Likewise I think we'll have to respectfully agree to disagree on this one.

The thing about Frank Jr. is that his uncle Nick, who was a made member, also testified and confirmed what Frank Jr said. If there was ever a mob case that had as much evidence as possible, including DNA evidence, it was the Family Secrets case. There is absolutely evidence that Frank Jr. lied in his testimony.

Faithful1, I think you left out a word in your last posting. I think you meant to say there was 'no' evidence that he lied during his testimony. You said there was evidence that he lied.

I'm not talking about his testimony. I don't care what he said in his testimony about the Outfit. I'm saying I don't believe everything he said about his Dad concerning THEIR HOME LIFE.
He stole money from his father, he is a drug addict and a rat. I don't like the guy for those reasons. If you or anybody else think he's a great guy, then so be it. I don't wish to debate it.

Speaking of sons ratting on their own fathers, how about Michael Franzeses brother John sending their father Sonny Franzese back to prison. Wasn't he a pretty bad drug addict?

Anyway i read he went into the WPP after he testified but he seems to me to be the type of guy that would get kicked out of the program. Has anybody heard anything on him since he testified?

Did he rat on anyone else besides his father? I forget the details.

Thanks for catching my mistake. I was on the phone and thought I could multitask.

As for how Frank Jr was when he was an addict, I agree that he was a bad guy, but I think the father was worse. His father was a true sociopath and the son, although a criminal and everything, he did have a conscience.

Good earner,turn his life around why die and jail like his dad going to do

Die in jail like his dad???? Sonny franzese is gonna walk outa jail 100+ years old and take over the colombo family.
(Im only half kidding bc its not that far fetched)

He should switch places with his old man and take time like a real man.

Why should he do that? While Sonny has been involved in murder and extortion for his whole life and so far, unless things have changed, has not been sorry for his life of crime. Michael has given up his past life and lived for God and his family. He's done a lot of good helping kids and ministering to prisoners. Why should a guy who's turned his life around go to prison for no reason? Makes no sense. I really don't get all this hostility toward Michael Franzese. Why don't you read his books and watch his videos before you judge him?

As far as Michael Franzese and murder, there was a discussion about this a few yrs back in regards to Larry "Champagne" Carrozza particularly after the Nothing Personal episode about Carrozza came out, heres a brief synopsis and a video:

"Franzese admits to his part in that scheme and many other crimes. He says he regrets having committed them. He steadfastly denies one thing, however: the suggestion that he ever killed people or ordered others to do it.

"I'm not saying to you that I didn't have knowledge of that type of thing," he said. "But I never killed anybody."

Franzese knows that flies in the face of mob history. As he says, joining the organization has long required a recruit to commit a murder.

But Franzese says the requirement was "waived" in his case. There was a burst of Mafia recruiting in the early 1970s, he says, and the rules were suspended while the families restored their criminal organizations to full strength. In addition, Franzese says, his father may have pulled strings to keep his son from having to kill anyone.

Federal agents and other law enforcement experts are unconvinced. They can offer no proof that Franzese committed murder, but there is at least one case in which some experts believe that Franzese may have pulled the trigger.

Larry (Champagne) Carrozza--a Brooklyn embalmer with a taste for the good life, including his trademark champagne--once was Franzese's best friend. They drank together and gambled in Las Vegas together. Carrozza was the godfather of three of Franzese's children, and he was the godfather of one of Carrozza's.

But in 1983, Franzese learned that Carrozza, a married man, was having an affair with Franzese's sister and had become involved with drugs. Franzese said the mob had discovered both and had ordered Carrozza's assassination. In his book, Franzese says he tried to warn his friend, but that Carrozza ignored him.

Carrozza's body was found on May 20, 1983. He had been shot with a single bullet behind the right ear. There was no sign of a struggle. Police believe he was killed by someone he knew and trusted.

Franzese says he did not do it. Some agents and prosecutors wonder about that.

"There's definitely a violent side to Franzese, and he definitely had the motive and the opportunity to do that killing," Jermyn said.

Franzese's autobiography acknowledges that many people blamed him for Carrozza's death. In a section of the book written by his co-author, Matera says "it was widely believed among law enforcement officials and Mafia insiders that Michael killed his friend upon his father's order."

Franzese has never been charged in that or any other killing."

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-06/news/mn-426_1_michael-franzese/2

OFCOURSE he killed people. He was a capo! You cannot become a capo unless you've killed somebody. That the la cosa nostra rules.

Yea he probably was at the very least directly involved in carrozza's demise if he wasn't the actual Shooter.

Also I know Frank Jr is a dip shit and a druggie, but I think he is genuine. Not only was his life of abuse corroborated by Nick, he agreed to cooperate on his own and not to get out from under something.