Sonny: Last of the Old Time Mafia Bosses

NEW YORK - He was an unabashed bad guy who bragged on wire tapes about getting rid of bodies.

There was one time he claimed to have killed at least 50 people. He bragged about using elaborate methods of getting rid of bodies -- putting them in microwaves or dissolving their bodies in pools of acid.

His name was John "Sonny" Franzese, an underboss with the Colombo crime family on and off for decades.

The description of a life of crime and violence is according to Newsday investigative journalist Sandra Peddie.  She interviewed Franzese when he was over 100 years old.

Her new book is called 'Sonny: The Last of the old Time Mafia Bosses.' 

FOX 5 MOB STORIES ON YOUTUBE

"When I talked to him, he didn't admit any murders because there's no statute of limitations and murders. but he was certainly proud of his life of crime," Peddie said.

"He really had the whole extortion game down to a science, you know, he would go to a restaurant or a club, and he would make friends with the owner. And he was a very engaging guy. So of course, who doesn't want a powerful person is their friend," Peddie said. "And then a couple weeks later, some rough guys would come to the club and start busting it up. Well, the owner doesn't know what to do. So he turns to Sonny. And Sonny would say, Well, yeah, I can take care of it for you, but it's going to cost"

Sonny's life in crime lasted decades where he was in and out of prison.

It all took a serious toll on his own family.

In the end, it was his own son who testified against him during a trial when Sonny was in his 90s.

"In the end, he had real regrets about what his life did to his family. He did not regret being in the mafia. He regretted being sent to prison it for a 50-year sentence. And he regretted that his absence in his family's life, led them to this downward spiral that they couldn't get out of," Peddie said.