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Joseph Pistone as Donnie Brasco (left) with Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano (right) in Florida.

Joseph D. Pistone (born 1939), alias Donnie Brasco, is a former FBI agent who worked undercover for six years infiltrating the Bonanno family and to a lesser extent the Colombo Family, branches of the Mafia in New York City. Pistone has stated that he would have become a made member of the Bonanno family if he had murdered capo Phillip Giaccone in December of 1981. That hit was called off, but Pistone was later contracted to murder Alphonse Indelicato's son, Anthony Indelicato. Pistone was sworn-in as a Special Agent of the FBI in 1969, 7 years before going 'undercover'. Donnie Brasco is a 1997 film by Mike Newell starring Al Pacino, Michael Madsen and Johnny Depp. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Donnie Brasco (l) and Sonny Black Napolitano (r) in Florida, FBI photo, File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Donnie Brasco (l) and Sonny Black Napolitano (r) in Florida, FBI photo, File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Dominick Sonny Black Napolitano a. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami metropolitan area Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... F.B.I. and FBI redirect here. ... Look up Undercover in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Bonanno family is one of five mafia families said to be in control of organized crime in New York City. ... Joseph Joe Colombo Sr. ... This article is about the criminal society. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For the 2006 computer game, see Made Man (computer game). ... Phillip Giaccone a. ... Alphonse Sonny Red Indelicato (died May 5, 1981) was a capo in New York Citys Bonanno crime family. ... Anthony Indelicato ca. ... // Any federal criminal or non-criminal investigator or detective in the 1811, 1801, 2501 or similar job series as so titled according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) handbook. ...

Early life

Pistone was born in Erie, Pennsylvania and grew up in the Sandy Hill section of Paterson, New Jersey. He graduated from Paterson State College (now William Paterson University) in 1965 with a degree in anthropology. After a year of working as a teacher in Paterson School No. 10, he worked for the Office of Naval Intelligence. He became an FBI special agent in 1969 (Diehl 2006). “Erie” redirects here. ... “Paterson” redirects here. ... William Paterson University is a public university located in Wayne, New Jersey, an affluent suburb of New York City. ... The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) was established in the United States Navy in 1882. ...

Career Prior to Donnie Brasco

After serving in a variety of FBI roles throughout the USA, Pistone was transferred to New York in 1974 and assigned to the truck hijacking squad. His ability to drive 18 wheel trucks and bulldozers meant he was picked for what would become his first major undercover role, infiltrating a gang stealing these vehicles as well as others, sometimes to order. His penetration of this group led to the arrest of over 30 people along the eastern seaboard of the USA in February 1976 and was described at the as one of the largest and most profitable theft rings ever broken in the USA to that point.

As Donnie Brasco

Pistone was selected to be an undercover agent because he was of Sicilian heritage, could speak the Sicilian dialect of Italian, and was acquainted with the Mob from growing up in Paterson. He also said that he did not perspire under pressure and was aware of the mafia's codes of conduct and system. The operation was given the code "Sun-Apple". Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language characteristic of a particular group of the languages speakers. ...

After an extensive amount of background work, the name Donald Brasco was chosen to be his cover and in September 1976 he went undercover. Pistone has stated that it was not the original aim to penetrate the Mafia, rather the focus was to be on a group of people fencing stolen property from the large number of truck hijackings taking place each day in New York at the time (5 to 6 a day). It was intended the undercover operation last for 6 months, rather than 6 years.

Pistone subsequently developed a close relationship with the Bonanno capo Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, Michael Sabella, Anthony Mirra and was tutored in the ways of the Mafia by Bonanno soldier Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero. It was by doing this that Ruggiero was to inadvertently provide much evidence to Pistone, as made Mafia members will not normally talk to non members about the activities of other crews. Dominick Sonny Black Napolitano a. ... Michael Mimi Sabella was a former Bonanno crime family caporegime of the Bonanno crime family and is a relative of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania mob boss Salvatore Sabella. ... Anthony Mirra (c. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members. Pistone's operation ended after six years when Napolitano ordered Pistone to murder Anthony Indelicato, who previously evaded a meeting which left Anthony's father Alphonse Indelicato, together with Phillip "Philly Lucky" Giaccone and Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera, dead. Pistone never witnessed, or was involved in the murder of the three. Two days later, FBI agents informed Napolitano and Ruggiero that their longtime associate was in fact an FBI agent. Shortly thereafter, Black was murdered for having allowed an FBI agent to infiltrate the family and Ruggiero was to be killed but was arrested by the FBI on the day he was to be killed to prevent this. Following Napolitano's murder, the Mafia put out a $500,000 contract on Pistone, but the contract was rescinded following a sitdown between FBI agents and members of the Bonanno family where unprecedented FBI attention was threatened on the mob if Pistone was touched. Subsequent surveillance confirmed the contract had been lifted.^{[citation needed]} Phillip Giaccone a. ... Dominick Trinchera a. ...

Bonanno boss Joe Massino was convicted in 2004 of ordering Napolitano to be killed for allowing Pistone into the family. Joe Big Joey Massino (known in the media as The Last Don) was a Queens, New York restaurateur and head of the Bonanno crime family. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Recent photo of Joseph Pistone

Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1987 book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. This book was the basis for the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, starring Johnny Depp as Pistone and Al Pacino as Ruggiero. Pistone revisited his experiences as Donnie Brasco in his 2004 book The Way of the Wiseguy, and his 2007 book Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... For the band, see 1997 (band). ... Donnie Brasco is a 1997 film by Mike Newell starring Al Pacino, Michael Madsen and Johnny Depp. ... Johnny Depp (born John Christopher Depp II[2] on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky) is an Academy Award-nominated and SAG Awards-winning American actor and for his performances in the films Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Whats Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Ed Wood (1994... Alfredo James Pacino (born April 25, 1940) is an Academy, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA, Emmy, and SAG award winning American actor who is best known for playing the roles of Tony Montana in the 1983 film Scarface and Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy . ... The Way of the Wiseguy, by Joseph D. Pistone (Running Press, ISBN 0762418397), is a non-fiction description of mafia personalities and culture, published in 2004. ...

Pistone continues to be active as an author and consultant to worldwide law enforcement agencies and has been called to testify before the U.S. Senate as an expert on organized crime. He also wrote a novel, titled The Good Guys, with Joe Bonanno's son, Salvatore Bonanno. Despite the contract on his life being lifted, he still travels disguised, under assumed names and licensed to carry a firearm. Joseph Bonanno Joseph Bonanno (January 18, 1905 – May 11, 2002) was an American Mafioso who became the boss of one of the most prominent crime families in the world, the Bonanno crime family. ... Salvatore Bill Bonanno (1932-) is the son of Mafia boss Joseph Bonanno. ...

External links

• Joseph D. Pistone at the Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

References

• Diehl, Christine S. "WP Has a Sit-Down With Joe Pistone/Donnie Brasco", WP, The Magazine of William Paterson University, Vol. 7, No. 1, Winter 2006.
• Pistone, Joseph D.; & Woodley, Richard (1999) Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, p. 402, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-66637-4.
• Pistone, Joseph D. (2004). The Way of the Wiseguy, Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-1839-7.
• Pistone, Joseph D.; & Brandt, Charles (2007). Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business, Running Press. ISBN 0-7624-2707-8.
• Testimony before Senate Sub Committte on Organized Crime http://www.americanmafia.com/pistone_testimony.html