(Reuters)
- John "Sonny" Franzese, a reputed underboss of the Colombo crime
family, was released from a Massachusetts prison hospital on Friday at
age 100, ending his tenure as the oldest inmate in a U.S. federal
prison, his son and media reports said.
Franzese
has been in and out of prison for much of his adult life, having been
granted parole by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons at least six times, Newsday
reported.
He
was most recently incarcerated, at the age of 93 in 2010, for a
racketeering conspiracy involving the shakedown of New York strip clubs.
Federal prison officials could not be reached immediately to confirm his release or details of his criminal record.
Franzese
was acquitted in several murder cases going back for decades, Newsday
reported, but he was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1967 for his
involvement in a bank robbery conspiracy. He was released long before he
completed the full term in that case.
When
the half-century sentence was announced, Franzese's estranged wife
Cristina told the New York Daily News, "I'd be shocked if he doesn't
live to 100. That man can do jail time standing on his head."
One of Franzese's eight sons, Michael, confirmed his release from the Federal Medical Center at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.
"It's official! Dad has been released! 100 years old, a free man! PRAISE GOD!," Michael Franzese said in Twitter message.
Franzese,
whose request for early release was denied in July 2016, left the
medical center in a wheelchair and intended to go to his daughter's home
in Brooklyn, New York, Newsday reported.
Although
Franzese avoided conviction for many of his suspected crimes,
investigators caught him on tape in 2006 describing his method of making
bodies disappear, CBS News reported.
"Dismember
victim in kiddie pool. Cook body parts in microwave. Stuff parts in
garbage disposal. Be patient," CBS reported Franzese as saying.
0 Comments