New York City court upholds conviction of 95-year-old mob boss
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A 95-year-old mob boss who authorities say boasted about killing 60 people in a lifetime of crime must serve his eight-year prison sentence after his racketeering conspiracy conviction, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.
John "Sonny" Franzese was sentenced last January after his conviction for extorting Manhattan strip clubs and a Long Island pizzeria while he was underboss of the Colombo crime family.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction, finding that it resulted from a fair trial and his sentence was proper. The court also upheld the convictions and sentencing of two others in the case.
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An FBI agent testified that Franzese bragged about killing 60 people over the years and once contemplated arranging his own son's death after he became a government cooperator.
Federal prosecutors had sought to imprison him for at least 12 years after calling one of his sons, John Franzese Jr., to testify against him.
Franzese was once a regular at the Copacabana nightclub, where he could be seen with singers Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. He also had a stake in the classic porn film "Deep Throat."
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Authorities say an informant had recorded him bragging about mob killings, saying he "killed a lot of guys" but was "never caught." They say he also recommended that the best way to dispose of body parts was to dry them out with a microwave and grind them up in a garbage disposal. He was arrested in the racketeering case in 2008 and was later freed on $1 million bail.
With credit for good behavior and time served awaiting his trial, Franzese is scheduled to be released in June 2017. A message left with his lawyer seeking comment was not immediately returned Wednesday.