Former 'Prince of the Mafia' to speak at Cape First event Friday

Former New York mafia member Michael Franzese will speak at the Cape First Church Men's Event on Friday.

Franzese, who was a captain or "capo" in the Colombo crime family, decided to leave the mafia and change his life. He currently resides in California, writes and travels the country, telling his story of transformation.

Franzese began his activity in the mafia after his father, underboss Sonny Franzese, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for bank robbery. Franzese was previously enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University in Long Island, because his father did not want him to be involved in the business.

"When my dad was arrested and indicted on a major case, he was accused of masterminding a nationwide string of bank robberies, which is a federal case and he went to trial, and he got convicted," Franzese said. "I made the decision to try and help my father get out of jail, and the way we were going to do that, at least my father's preference, was for me to become part of his life. He proposed me for membership in the life and after the recruit period, I became a member on Halloween night of 1975, I took the oath and became a member of the Colombo family. That was my life for the next 20 years."

Franzese began as a soldier in the family. Over time, he was promoted to caporegime or "capo." Throughout his criminal career Franzese was indicted seven times and had two federal racketeering cases against him, one brought on by Rudy Guliani.

Turning around

In 1984, Franzese met his wife, Camille, and she helped him come to the decision he needed to get out of the mafia.

"And then at some point, I met a young woman, who is now my wife of 37 years and as a result of that, I decided to try to walk away from that life and preserve our relationship together, and I've been able to do that successfully, but it was really hard," Franzese said.

However, Franzese was charged in 1985 in the states of Florida and New York for his involvement in counterfeiting and extortion from gasoline bootlegging. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $14.7 million in restitution. He would spend nearly three years in solitary confinement during that time.

"I learned through that experience that we were not meant to be solo creatures. We were meant to be social," Franzese said. "A lot of guys did not do well in that situation. You know, the lights go out and you hear moaning and groaning and a lot of awful things can occur -- it's something that will mentally and emotionally destroy someone, no doubt."

Franzese found religion while he was in prison after being given a Bible from one of the corrections officers. His wife sent him more religious texts to educate himself on faith, and when Franzese was released from prison he was a born-again Christian.

Even with having a family waiting on the outside for him, Franzese said his transition into a new life was not easy.

"I had to rebuild my life. I had to be 100% legitimate and not do the things I did before," Franzese said. "I still had the government upset with me and the IRS coming for me for a fine, and I still had people on the street upset with me. So it was a tough transition. But, I was very fortunate, very blessed, very determined, and we made it happen."

Franzese was recruited shortly before his release from prison by major league baseball teams to speak to the athletes about the dangers of gambling and his previous involvement in "rigging" games. He began going to colleges to speak in 1998 to speak and has spoken at more than 350 universities. Franzese now speaks to tell his story and testimony, writes and has appeared in several film productions. He enjoys being able to tell his story of transformation and faith.

"Over the past 25 years, so many people I've seen struggle with their past believing that they can never make a transformation in life. I mean, I attribute everything to my faith, that got me through a tough period of time in my life in solitary," Franzese said. "I never planned on doing what I'm doing, but I think God had a plan for me and I put my faith and trust in the Lord."

For more information on the Cape First men's Event, visit their Facebook page. Tickets are $20 and available at www.capefirst.org/events. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and a BBQ dinner is included with the ticket.