Michael Franzese was not just a soldier but a capo in the notorious Colombo crime family. He spent the better part of a decade in federal prison on charges including tax fraud, racketeering, and parole violation.
His main forte was making money for the mob. In a very short period of time, Michael Franzese made over $300 million for the Colombo crime family.
Michael Franceze was the son of infamous mafia underboss Sonny Franceze whose own crime family the Colombo family which both father and son belonged to was growing weary of Michael's multimillion dollar hustle which afforded him a lifestyle that was flashy as well as creating envy amongst the bosses due to a Newsday article falsely portraying him as not only one of top 50 mob figures in that US at that time, but that he was also forming his own Mob Family much to the anger of his "mob family".
I’ll be honest with you, I’m bringing in $8 – $9 million a week into my operation. I’ve got my own jet plane – a Lear 25. I’ve got a helicopter, house in Florida, house in L.A., house in New York. I’ve got 300 crazy guys ready to do anything I tell them to do to prove themselves worthy. I’ve got it going on. Thirtyone years old, top of the world, going to be the boss of a major family – got it going on.
- "Traders Point Magazine" Michael Franceze
“Life magazine call him the “mob young genius.....he was able to help the Mafia further solidify it's penetration into legal businesses such as Professional Sports...the Gasoline Industry...Food and Retail industry and Michael's speciality the Music Industry....
Michael Franceze would learn the ropes of the Music Industry from his father Sonny Franceze
whom teamed up with Music super agent Norby Walters (dionne warwick, jimi hendrix) to provide "muscle" to persuade clients to stay loyal to Mr. Walters and it's contractual obligations.
A botched attempt to extort Michael Jackson and his brothers to be forced to accept the Norby Walters as thier booking agents on a 1981 tour, forced Michael Franceze to switch hustles
"A meeting between myself and the Jackson's manager Ron Wiesner, nearly resulted in Walter's bagging the group's 1981 tour, headed by the skyrocketing Michael Jackson. An unrelated snag killed that deal, allowing another booking firm to take over." What Franzese left out of that tale was Jackson had established a close personal relationship with Epic records promotion executive Frank Dileo. Dileo joined Epic's staff the same year Michael Jackson released the album Off the Wall which went on to sell 8 million copies. Jackson believed part of the credit for the albums success was the promotional efforts of Dileo a close personal friend and supporter of Joe Isgro and the independent promotions network. "Quitting the Mob"- Michael Franseze
With the release of Thriller Jackson urged Dileo to follow the same formula which had worked so well with Off the Wall. The resulting campaign which reportedly cost $100,000 per single in independent promotion resulted in the best selling album of all-time. As a reward for his efforts, Jackson hired Dileo to replace Ron Wiesner and Freddy DeMann "who later played a roll in the rise of Deathrow records," as his personal manager.
So if Franzese missed the boat landing the biggest music act of the '80s, he apparently gained a lucrative consolation prize in the genre of rap.
Just so happens that Franceze would be fortunate to have the opportunity to make inroads into the emrging Rap Music scene....in which Michael Franceze would take over his father's role in assisting Sonny securing acts for touring and representations in negotiations with major labels such as MCA which was considered a MAFIA'S "PARADISE".
MCA also had the insight to be the first to offer a "rap imprint" a distribution deal by signing Sugarhill Records , it was a mutual deal considering that Sugarhill had been bankrolled by mafioso affiliate Morris Levy.
With MCA rap artists such in it's stable, Michael Franceze was able to muscle in on another rap music based entity, RUSH MANAGEMENT led by RUSSELL SIMMONS due to obligations owed to the Norby Walters firm, which resulted in RUN DMC's contract being held hostage by Priority records as well as the introduction of Lyor Cohen to oversee the Rush/Def Jam umbrella but providing Michael Franceze a sizeable sourch of revenue gleamed from rap talent as evident in the movie he financed entitled KNIGHTS OF THE CITY featuring cameos by RUSH RELATED artists such as the FATBOYS and KURTIS BLOW...
Among many things I was doing, I was making movies back then. I had a production company in L.A., and we were making movies. And Sammy Davis and Smokey Robinson, they were friends. Smokey came to me – he had a screen play for a breakdance movie.
And he said, “Mike, you want to make this – lot of music, lot of dance, lot of rap music.” That’s when you could listen to rap music on the radio – not like today. Forget about the stuff today.
Back then, it was cool. The Sugarhill Gang, Fat Boys, Run D-M-C, Kurtis Blow – I love those guys; old school rap. I said, “Hey, Sammy, I’ll make the movie if we can film it in Florida. I’ve got a house down there. I like the warm weather.”
So great. We’re going to make this movie. It’s called Knights in the City. You can rent it on video – pretty good film. But anyway, I bring everybody down to south Florida. I bring cast and crew from L.A. to work on the film. I bring 50 dancers from a professional dance company. I’ve got them all housed in a hotel in south Florida – Fort Lauderdale
According to published reports Lyor Cohen promoted punk rock shows at a Los Angeles club called the Mix Club. Cohen met and later went to work for Def Jam after travelling to New York to collect a debt owed from Richard Walters for a cancelled Run-DMC date in Los Angeles. Wait that's right, Richard Walters the son of Norby Walters controlled Run-DMC from the start which indicates Michael Franzese in the shadows.
This would explain the confusion in the story of who, why and how Cohen ended up at Def Jam. After all Cohen born and raised in Manhatten but living in Los Angeles was an odd fit in the rap world. Lets not forget Cohen graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in marketing and international finance. After graduation Cohen took a position working at the Bank Leumi an entity controlled by the World Zionist Organization which is intimately linked with the Israeli government. So as you can see Cohen's skills were much more in line with the Franzese operation than with Russell Simmons who's knowledge of the record industry outside of promotion was probably inferior to that of his alledged minion. "Crimefile Blog"
While that was taking place, Franceze business partner Norby Walters suggested that they enter the Sports agency field taking the task of representing a number of professional and unsigned athelets, but what seemed to be a legit task was another underworld hustle taking place as Federal Authorities uncovered a scheme which involved loansharking , extortion and the fixing of games and intimidation of athletes...
Something Franceze didn't deny ever taking place in this 2012 articleL
interviewer: Did you fix any games?
franceze: Absolutely..
Franzese said Walters approached him in 1985 to discuss setting up a sports-agent business. ``He asked for $50,000 and said I`d get 25 percent (of the profits) in return,`` Franzese said. ``He said if things went well, I`d have it back in a year.``
Sports Agent Linked To Mob
This deal would be Michael Franceze eventual undoing , along with the distrubing news that his own father was willing to put a HIT out on him in regards to his lifestyle and alleged monies that didn't seem to come into the bosses hands.
Michael felt this was the ultimate betrayal on behalf of his father to have his own son killed , with the FBI having him in his crosshairs as his business partner was already snatched by the feds, Michael Franceze decided to testify to his activities as well as becoming an informant into the activities of the MOB in regards to the Music and Sports entertainment fields.
One of the key testimonies was his "intimidation" of the management Dionne Warwick and the r&b group NEW EDITION for monies owed from a loan:
Testifying in a low, gravelly baritone, Franzese recalled how Walters sought his help in 1982 when Bill Grant, Warwick`s agent, threatened to dump Walters as booking agent. Franzese said that before he and Walters went to see Grant, he ordered Walters to call Grant.
``I wanted to make sure he knew who I was so I wouldn`t have to make any outward threats when I got into the meeting,`` said Franzese.
``I said I would be very appreciative if he`d leave the act with Norby for six months,`` Franzese said. Grant assented, he said.
In 1984, Walters complained to Franzese he had lent $20,000 to the managers of the New Edition, but that the group`s agents had decided to back out of a deal in which Walters was to serve as the group`s booking agent for some concerts and a tour.
Franzese said he met with the agents. ``I wanted to explain that I was his (Walters`) partner and the $20,000 was actually my money,`` said Franzese, 37.
As a result in his cooperation Michael Franceze served a suspended sentence of less than 6 years and has become an author and spokesperson and advocate against organized crimes while speaking on the christian lecture circuit:
His main forte was making money for the mob. In a very short period of time, Michael Franzese made over $300 million for the Colombo crime family.
Michael Franceze was the son of infamous mafia underboss Sonny Franceze whose own crime family the Colombo family which both father and son belonged to was growing weary of Michael's multimillion dollar hustle which afforded him a lifestyle that was flashy as well as creating envy amongst the bosses due to a Newsday article falsely portraying him as not only one of top 50 mob figures in that US at that time, but that he was also forming his own Mob Family much to the anger of his "mob family".
I’ll be honest with you, I’m bringing in $8 – $9 million a week into my operation. I’ve got my own jet plane – a Lear 25. I’ve got a helicopter, house in Florida, house in L.A., house in New York. I’ve got 300 crazy guys ready to do anything I tell them to do to prove themselves worthy. I’ve got it going on. Thirtyone years old, top of the world, going to be the boss of a major family – got it going on.
- "Traders Point Magazine" Michael Franceze
“Life magazine call him the “mob young genius.....he was able to help the Mafia further solidify it's penetration into legal businesses such as Professional Sports...the Gasoline Industry...Food and Retail industry and Michael's speciality the Music Industry....
Michael Franceze would learn the ropes of the Music Industry from his father Sonny Franceze
whom teamed up with Music super agent Norby Walters (dionne warwick, jimi hendrix) to provide "muscle" to persuade clients to stay loyal to Mr. Walters and it's contractual obligations.
A botched attempt to extort Michael Jackson and his brothers to be forced to accept the Norby Walters as thier booking agents on a 1981 tour, forced Michael Franceze to switch hustles
"A meeting between myself and the Jackson's manager Ron Wiesner, nearly resulted in Walter's bagging the group's 1981 tour, headed by the skyrocketing Michael Jackson. An unrelated snag killed that deal, allowing another booking firm to take over." What Franzese left out of that tale was Jackson had established a close personal relationship with Epic records promotion executive Frank Dileo. Dileo joined Epic's staff the same year Michael Jackson released the album Off the Wall which went on to sell 8 million copies. Jackson believed part of the credit for the albums success was the promotional efforts of Dileo a close personal friend and supporter of Joe Isgro and the independent promotions network. "Quitting the Mob"- Michael Franseze
With the release of Thriller Jackson urged Dileo to follow the same formula which had worked so well with Off the Wall. The resulting campaign which reportedly cost $100,000 per single in independent promotion resulted in the best selling album of all-time. As a reward for his efforts, Jackson hired Dileo to replace Ron Wiesner and Freddy DeMann "who later played a roll in the rise of Deathrow records," as his personal manager.
So if Franzese missed the boat landing the biggest music act of the '80s, he apparently gained a lucrative consolation prize in the genre of rap.
Just so happens that Franceze would be fortunate to have the opportunity to make inroads into the emrging Rap Music scene....in which Michael Franceze would take over his father's role in assisting Sonny securing acts for touring and representations in negotiations with major labels such as MCA which was considered a MAFIA'S "PARADISE".
MCA also had the insight to be the first to offer a "rap imprint" a distribution deal by signing Sugarhill Records , it was a mutual deal considering that Sugarhill had been bankrolled by mafioso affiliate Morris Levy.
With MCA rap artists such in it's stable, Michael Franceze was able to muscle in on another rap music based entity, RUSH MANAGEMENT led by RUSSELL SIMMONS due to obligations owed to the Norby Walters firm, which resulted in RUN DMC's contract being held hostage by Priority records as well as the introduction of Lyor Cohen to oversee the Rush/Def Jam umbrella but providing Michael Franceze a sizeable sourch of revenue gleamed from rap talent as evident in the movie he financed entitled KNIGHTS OF THE CITY featuring cameos by RUSH RELATED artists such as the FATBOYS and KURTIS BLOW...
Among many things I was doing, I was making movies back then. I had a production company in L.A., and we were making movies. And Sammy Davis and Smokey Robinson, they were friends. Smokey came to me – he had a screen play for a breakdance movie.
And he said, “Mike, you want to make this – lot of music, lot of dance, lot of rap music.” That’s when you could listen to rap music on the radio – not like today. Forget about the stuff today.
Back then, it was cool. The Sugarhill Gang, Fat Boys, Run D-M-C, Kurtis Blow – I love those guys; old school rap. I said, “Hey, Sammy, I’ll make the movie if we can film it in Florida. I’ve got a house down there. I like the warm weather.”
So great. We’re going to make this movie. It’s called Knights in the City. You can rent it on video – pretty good film. But anyway, I bring everybody down to south Florida. I bring cast and crew from L.A. to work on the film. I bring 50 dancers from a professional dance company. I’ve got them all housed in a hotel in south Florida – Fort Lauderdale
According to published reports Lyor Cohen promoted punk rock shows at a Los Angeles club called the Mix Club. Cohen met and later went to work for Def Jam after travelling to New York to collect a debt owed from Richard Walters for a cancelled Run-DMC date in Los Angeles. Wait that's right, Richard Walters the son of Norby Walters controlled Run-DMC from the start which indicates Michael Franzese in the shadows.
This would explain the confusion in the story of who, why and how Cohen ended up at Def Jam. After all Cohen born and raised in Manhatten but living in Los Angeles was an odd fit in the rap world. Lets not forget Cohen graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in marketing and international finance. After graduation Cohen took a position working at the Bank Leumi an entity controlled by the World Zionist Organization which is intimately linked with the Israeli government. So as you can see Cohen's skills were much more in line with the Franzese operation than with Russell Simmons who's knowledge of the record industry outside of promotion was probably inferior to that of his alledged minion. "Crimefile Blog"
While that was taking place, Franceze business partner Norby Walters suggested that they enter the Sports agency field taking the task of representing a number of professional and unsigned athelets, but what seemed to be a legit task was another underworld hustle taking place as Federal Authorities uncovered a scheme which involved loansharking , extortion and the fixing of games and intimidation of athletes...
Something Franceze didn't deny ever taking place in this 2012 articleL
interviewer: Did you fix any games?
franceze: Absolutely..
Franzese said Walters approached him in 1985 to discuss setting up a sports-agent business. ``He asked for $50,000 and said I`d get 25 percent (of the profits) in return,`` Franzese said. ``He said if things went well, I`d have it back in a year.``
Sports Agent Linked To Mob
This deal would be Michael Franceze eventual undoing , along with the distrubing news that his own father was willing to put a HIT out on him in regards to his lifestyle and alleged monies that didn't seem to come into the bosses hands.
Michael felt this was the ultimate betrayal on behalf of his father to have his own son killed , with the FBI having him in his crosshairs as his business partner was already snatched by the feds, Michael Franceze decided to testify to his activities as well as becoming an informant into the activities of the MOB in regards to the Music and Sports entertainment fields.
One of the key testimonies was his "intimidation" of the management Dionne Warwick and the r&b group NEW EDITION for monies owed from a loan:
Testifying in a low, gravelly baritone, Franzese recalled how Walters sought his help in 1982 when Bill Grant, Warwick`s agent, threatened to dump Walters as booking agent. Franzese said that before he and Walters went to see Grant, he ordered Walters to call Grant.
``I wanted to make sure he knew who I was so I wouldn`t have to make any outward threats when I got into the meeting,`` said Franzese.
``I said I would be very appreciative if he`d leave the act with Norby for six months,`` Franzese said. Grant assented, he said.
In 1984, Walters complained to Franzese he had lent $20,000 to the managers of the New Edition, but that the group`s agents had decided to back out of a deal in which Walters was to serve as the group`s booking agent for some concerts and a tour.
Franzese said he met with the agents. ``I wanted to explain that I was his (Walters`) partner and the $20,000 was actually my money,`` said Franzese, 37.
As a result in his cooperation Michael Franceze served a suspended sentence of less than 6 years and has become an author and spokesperson and advocate against organized crimes while speaking on the christian lecture circuit:
, and Murder Inc STILL came out clean..
Pops was truly dedicated to la cosa nostra...
