hijackings, burglaries and robberies to bust the group he was working with, but he and his .
case agent decided that there were oppurtunities to dig a little deeper and try to infiltrate .
the Mafia itself (something never done before by an FBI agent). Agent Pistone became .
aware of the basic structure and the values that governed the Mafia, and realized that the .
mob was not made up of killers, but thieves. Member feared superiors the most and the.
rules were strongly enforced. Everything in the mafia was governed around the ability to .
make money. Infractions could often be overlooked if the associate was a good .
moneymaker, but even so, there was always the threat of getting "wacked". In the .
followong few months, Pistone became a close friend and protege of "Lefty." He worked .
under a capo called Mike Sabella, who owned a restaurant on Mulberry Street called .
CaSa Bella. Lefty ran a bookmaking business for the underboss of the family, Nicky .
Marangello from a social club at 94 Hester Street, called The Toyland, and this is .
where Pistone became aware of the "Zips" (information he passed up to his handlers.).
The intelligence he gathered over the months and years, were eventually used to help put .
every little bit and piece together leading up to the Pizza Connection. To show the .
extent of Pistones deception so far, the NYPD often photographed him visiting Toyland.
and identified him as an associate of the Bonanno crime family. .
About six months into his assignment, he became officially adopted by .
"Lefty" who agreed to teach him the ways of the mob; "Lefty" (54) himself was a long .
time member of the Bonanno family, and had committed 25 Mob hits in his career. .
Almost three years into the operation, Pistone met up with Dominick Napolitano. He had .
been bumped up to capo to replace Mike Sabella, who had been demoted. Lefty moved .
over to work under Napolitano, known on the street as "Sonny Black" because of the way .
Donnie Brasco When I was first assigned to see "Donnie Brasco" I instantly had an image of another ruff and intense mobster movie. It has been a while since Hollywood has attempted to do a mob related movie until now. "Donnie Brasco" was released last Friday. This movie stars Al Pac...