Colombo Mobster Nabbed While Dipping Doughnuts

At age 89, John “Sonny ” Franzese still enjoys sitting for a bite with his friends. The problem, according to federal authorities, is when the octogenarian mobster inevitably puts his criminal interests on the menu.For the third time since 1996, Franzese was back in federal lockup — this time after authorities spotted him sharing doughnuts with associates in the Colombo crime family, violating his parole. In the two earlier arrests, Franzese was nabbed after meeting with alleged mobsters in a coffee shop and a restaurant.It’s enough to give the reputed family underboss indigestion.“It’s really sad,” his son, Michael, who followed the elder Franzese into organized crime before leaving the mob and becoming a born-again Christian, said. “I believe he wasn’t very active [with the Colombos] at all, but then again, I’m not with him 24/7. Many of his friends are dead.”No surprise there, since the elderly Franzese’s contemporaries included mob veterans like Joe Colombo (RIP, 1978) or Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico (RIP, 1989). But authorities said Franzese was spotted more than once in recent weeks sharing breakfast pastries with 21st century Colombo members.Franzese was picked up last Wednesday during a scheduled check-in with his parole officer, said FBI spokesman Jim Margolin. He will remain behind bars pending resolution of his case, which could take up to three months, according to Tom Huchison of the U.S. Parole Commission.If Franzese has a weakness for old friends, he also has an unfortunate predilection for meeting them in public places — a major problem, since his parole bars him from any contact with organized crime figures.A November 2000 sitdown for coffee with three Colombo associates at a Long Island Starbucks landed him behind bars for three years. A February 1996 bowl of spinach soup at Pucinella’s restaurant in Great Neck led to a two-year term after authorities identified his dining companions as mobsters.A decade earlier, Franzese was popped after a mobbed-up meal at Laina’s Restaurant in Jericho. In all, Franzese has racked up five parole violations — and gone to jail for each one — since his November 1978 release on a bank robbery conviction.But the up-and-coming mob star’s career was derailed by a 1967 bank robbery conviction and subsequent 50-year jail term, which included parole restrictions that now extend though 2020 — when Franzese would be 102 years old.Franzese has not been convicted of any new crimes in the last 40 years.The arrest, in an odd culinary twist, also denied Franzese one last good meal: A friend says they were due to share dinner in a Long Island restaurant just hours after his arrest.

Colombo Mobster Nabbed While Dipping Doughnuts

Colombo Mobster Nabbed While Dipping Doughnuts

More from the New York Sun

Scalise, Jordan Bid To Steer Wayward Party After Johnson Steps Down as House Republican Leader

Transgender Athlete Restrictions, Voter ID Ballot Measures Pass Even in States Where Democrats Won Big

Democrat Nancy Lacore Projected to Win South Carolina House Seat After Hegseth Firing

Loser Industries in Post-Election Climate: Banking, Crypto, and AI

Defense Firm Anduril Plans First Major American-Made Laptop in Decades

Anti-Abortion Activists Say Republicans ‘Earned’ Midterm Defeat by Shying Away From National Abortion Restrictions

A Monster Mash of Indie Horror

Dumont Family Takes Control of Dallas Mavericks as Miriam Adelson Sells Stake to Daughter and Son-in-Law

More from the New York Sun

Scalise, Jordan Bid To Steer Wayward Party After Johnson Steps Down as House Republican Leader

Transgender Athlete Restrictions, Voter ID Ballot Measures Pass Even in States Where Democrats Won Big

Democrat Nancy Lacore Projected to Win South Carolina House Seat After Hegseth Firing

Loser Industries in Post-Election Climate: Banking, Crypto, and AI

Defense Firm Anduril Plans First Major American-Made Laptop in Decades

Anti-Abortion Activists Say Republicans ‘Earned’ Midterm Defeat by Shying Away From National Abortion Restrictions

A Monster Mash of Indie Horror

Dumont Family Takes Control of Dallas Mavericks as Miriam Adelson Sells Stake to Daughter and Son-in-Law