John Franzese Jr. (born 1960/61), now living as Mat Pazzarelli, is an American former associate of the Colombo crime family, and son of former underboss

John "Sonny" Franzese John "Sonny" Franzese Sr. (; February 6, 1917 – February 24, 2020) was an Italian-born American mobster who was a longtime member and former underboss of the Colombo crime family. Franzese's career in organized crime began in the 1930s and sp ...

. He is the first son of a New York mobster to turn state's evidence and testify against his father.

Organized crime

Franzese Jr. was born into the family of Colombo underboss

John Franzese John "Sonny" Franzese Sr. (; February 6, 1917 – February 24, 2020) was an Italian-born American mobster who was a longtime member and former underboss of the Colombo crime family. Franzese's career in organized crime began in the 1930s and sp ...

. His father was charged with a series of bank robberies in the late 1960s for a total term of 50 years. His brother

Michael Franzese Michael Franzese () ('' né'' Grillo; born May 27, 1951) is an American former mobster who was a caporegime in the Colombo crime family, and son of former underboss Sonny Franzese. Franzese was enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University ...

, who eventually rose to the rank of capo, was the first person that explained the Mafia life to him two years prior to his father's first release on parole in 1978. Franzese Jr. was never a made man but he did perform shakedowns which were made possible by his father's reputation and direct encouragement. The 1980s was the period that Franzese Jr. was most active in organized crime and he was sinking into addiction, describing moving from alcohol, to cocaine to crack. In the 1990s he described himself as a

junkie Junkie is a pejorative usually referring to a person with an addiction. Entertainment and media * ''Junkie'' (novel), a novel by William S. Burroughs * "Junkie" (song), 2013 song by Medina featuring Svenstrup & Vendelboe * ''The Junkies'', a ...

. It was from his drug use he acquired HIV and eventually

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

Informant

Franzese Jr. wanted a way out of his life and was approached by the FBI with a proposition that he become an informant and he accepted. One part of the agreement he made with the FBI prior to testifying was that he would not profit from his story as a mafia figure. He was allegedly also responsible for his father's fourth parole violation, but was accepted back into his confidence after denying the allegations in tears, saying, "I would never do that, no matter what kind of trouble I had." In 2005, he wore a wire around his father. Franzese Jr. testified twice against his father, the last time his father attempted to have him killed; he later lived under witness protection. In 2010, he admitted that he received $50,000 from the FBI as a cooperating witness. With the help of Franzese Jr.'s testimony, his father was sentenced on January 14, 2011, to eight years in prison for extorting two Manhattan strip clubs, running a

loanshark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

operation and extorting a pizzeria on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. He is the first son of a New York mobster to turn state's evidence and testify against his father. In 2017, he was recognized by someone attending a recovery meeting and was exposed via a post on Facebook. The FBI urged him to immediately relocate but he declined and exited the Witness Protection Program in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. In 2019, Franzese met with his father at the nursing home where he resided and reconciled with him. His father died of natural causes in New York, on February 24, 2020, aged 103.

Personal life

His wife Denyce was featured on ''

I Married a Mobster ''I Married a Mobster'' is an American documentary television series on Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime ...

'' TV show episode "Rat Trap". He is a recovering addict living in Indianapolis encouraging others with the affliction of addiction, offering an example of what rehabilitation can look like at a special housing unit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franzese, John Jr. Living people American gangsters of Italian descent Colombo crime family Federal Bureau of Investigation informants People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program People with HIV/AIDS Year of birth missing (living people)