Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Michael Franzese's hand was cut and bleeding, symbolic of the blood covenant
he had entered into. In his cupped palms burned a prayer card, a saint lit
aflame in front of a ring of men that was to become his lifelong
brotherhood. In a darkened room he heard these words: "Your allegiance to La
Cosa Nostra is bound by blood. Should you ever violate this oath your blood
will be shed." It was Halloween 1975. At 24, Franzese was no longer just a
young man, he was a sworn member of the Colombo crime family - a mobster. "I
vividly remember that night," he said. "I became a part of what my dad was a
part of, and it meant a lot. I belonged to a union of men. It was
exhilarating." At the height of his mob involvement, Franzese's gas tax
schemes and sports gambling scams brought in between $6 million and $7
million a day. In 1985 he was indicted on charges of racketeering,
extortion, embezzlement and conspiracy. He served less than four years of
his 10-year prison sentence, but was sent back in 1991 for violating
probation.