John "Sonny" Franzese was a rising star in the Profaci-Magliocco/Colombo family crime organization. Born in Naples, Sonny was raised by his bakery owner father in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn. By 1965 he was the fastest ascending Cosa Nostra leader in the underworld. A Newsday article compared him to a General Motors executive or an exec with IBM corporation. In the next year Franzese's fortunes would change for the worse. His ties to a group of bank robber underlings earned him an extended prison sentence.
