Thanks, Ivy. I figured all of his appeals have been long exhausted and as a result, the feds eavesdropped on his conversations, like they did with the Chin. I guess not.

I know it has been discussed in other threads here, but I find Sonny Franzese fascinating. Here was the rising star of the family, who couldn't stay out of jail- even when he was released on parole. However, according to his son Michael in his autobiography, Quitting The Mob.....Sonny was double crossed by Colombo family leaders to return to jail on parole violations, out of fear of his power and influence. Reminds me of a real life Feech LaManna situation from the Sopranos.

If Sonny wasn't double crossed by Colombo family leaders, then he lacked street smarts in some ways. He couldn't understand government surveillance as he got nabbed more than once for parole violations for meeting with known criminals. And at 89-93 years of age, he was arrested/convicted of home invasions and extorting a pizza parlor-WTF?!

Regarding the burglaries and extortion convictions....does anyone know if Sonny was nailed via RICO from receiving some payoffs being kicked up? Or was this elderly gent actually putting on fake police uniforms and robbing homes? And was this old man actually going up to mom and pop pizza parlors, demanding protection money?!