Court papers accused him of committing rape against a waitress in 1947, but he was never arrested in relation to the crime. In 1942, in the midst of World War II, he was drafted to the United States Army, but was discharged later that year classified as ' psychoneurotic with pronounced homicidal tendencies'. His first arrest came in 1938, for assault. In the late 1930s, Franzese worked under Joseph Profaci, boss of the Profaci crime family (later named the Colombo crime family). His mother had given him the nickname 'Sonny' at a young age. After six months, his family returned with Franzese to their home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where his father ran a bakery. His parents had already immigrated to the United States at the time of his birth, and were back in Italy for a visit. Rise in the Colombo crime family įranzese was born in Naples, Italy, to Carmine Franzese and Maria Corvola on February 6, 1917, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He died in a New York City hospital on February 24, 2020, at the age of 103. At the time of his release on June 23, 2017, at the age of 100, he was the oldest federal inmate in the United States and the only centenarian in federal custody. had testified against him, becoming the first son of a New York mobster to turn state's evidence and testify against his father. He became Colombo family underboss again in 2005, until he was convicted of extortion in 2011, and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was paroled in 1978, but was re-jailed at least six times on parole violations throughout the decades that followed. He served as underboss of the Colombo family from 1963 until he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for orchestrating a string of bank robberies across the country in 1967. ( Italian: Febru– February 24, 2020) was an Italian-born American mobster who was a longtime member and former underboss of the Colombo crime family.įranzese's career in organized crime began in the 1930s and spanned over eight decades.

Cristina Capobianco-Franzese (second wife)Ĩ, including Michael Franzese and John Franzese Jr.

Sonny franzese