NY mobster lands in Indy after testifying against father, goes public after years in witness protection
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — John Franzese is a former New York mobster who landed in Indianapolis via the United States Federal Witness Protection Program in 2006.
It was move that came after John decided to do what he was told you never do his whole life: cooperate with the FBI and become what the mafia calls a “rat.”
“I didn’t become an informant to get out of jail,” Franzese said
For Franzese, cooperating with the FBI was the toughest decision he ever had to make but he knew it was his only way out of the life he was born into. It was a life that drove him to addiction.
“It became clear, I have the ability to do something about this for the future,” he said.
So in early 2005, John agreed to wear a wire and record hundreds of hours of conversations he had with other members of the mob, including his father, notorious mob boss Sonny Franzese.
“A very well-known, super respected member of organized crime, a captain in the Colombo family,” Franzese said “They said my dad killed somewhere between 30 to 60 guys or had killed.”
John would go on to do did unthinkable by testifying against his own father.
“I looked at my dad and felt very sad for him, for that moment and what it might feel like for him seeing me on the stand,” Franzese said
In the end, Sonny Franzese – then 93 years old – was sentenced to eight years in prison for extortion. As for John, he entered witness protection and landed in Indianapolis.
“I was walking around and I was like holy cow, this city is so clean, I love the Circle, I had no idea,” Franzese said. “I came here so alone, and Indianapolis, the people here, helped me grow up in a different way,” Franzese added.
This is the second story in a series we’re calling “INside Story.” The rest of Phil’s stories on John Franzese will air each evening this week on News 8.