An ex-Mafia boss whose own dad wanted him dead will reveal shocking details from his life of crime when he visits Glasgow.
At the height of his mob career Michael Franzese was dubbed one of the biggest money earners since Al Capone, and was number 18 on the 'Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses' list.
With a team of 300 men and bringing in $18million a week, he owned his own jet, had multiple homes and partied every night, the Manchester Evening News reports.
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But after being jailed on racketeering charges, Michael found God and turned his back on his old life in 1995.
Multiple contracts were put out on his life, including one approved by his own dad, Sonny Franzese, who spent 40 years in prison before his death at 103.
Now the former Mafia caporegime (captain) is touring the UK telling the story that briefly earned Jospeh Bono a role playing him in Martin Scorsese classic Goodfellas.
Speaking ahead of his appearance at Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow on Saturday, August 6 Michael, now 71, revealed how he was indoctrinated into the crime family a the age of 24.
He was told: "Michael Franzese, you are born again into a new life, Cosa Nostra.
"Violate what you know about this life, betray your brothers, and you will die and burn in hell like the saint is burning in your hands. Do you accept?"
Decades later he says it's a night he will never forget.
He explained: "When you take the oath of Omerta, an oath of silence, you're never even supposed to admit the existence of that life, and you can never betray the life.
"It's not an oath that says 'from tonight you're going to murder and steal and kill,' does that happen? Yes. Did I violate the oath? Yes, because I talk about it and I walked away from it."
At the height of his Mafia activity Michael was a member of the Colombo crime family who ran the New York Mafia with five other families.
He was involved in a gasoline bootlegging operation that cost the US Federal Government $350million, and was a prime target for law enforcement.
He said: "I also had legitimate businesses, a production company, a lot going on. I was fortunate and knew how to use life to benefit me business-wise. On the flip side, I was arrested 18 times, I was indicted seven times, and with a big crew under me, I'd be there if someone was in trouble.
"All the while I'm making this money, I'm spending it on lawyers, court, it was part of my life. It was very fast-paced; there was never a dull moment."
Undercover agents also infiltrated his operation for months on end and made multiple recordings, none of which could be used in court.
Michael pointed out: "I never put myself in a position where they could. They tried to indict me after almost a year of investigation and they couldn't. I was that careful with people I wasn't sure of."
But by 1995 he says his life of crime was over, if he could stay alive to enjoy it.
He said: "If I became a major witness and put people in prison, well my dad proposed me to join the mafia, so it endangers him too.
"Do I think my dad would have put a bullet in my head? No, we patched it up later on."
Michael has been married to with Camille Garcia for 37 years, who he met while she danced on one of his films.
The family moved to California when he was released from prison, and he cut ties with his old life.
When he was released from prison, he and his family moved straight to California for a fresh start. He sent a message to his dad saying he was finished, and that he wasn't going to hurt anybody.
He added: "Everybody thought I was going to be a major witness, but that never happened. I just outlasted everybody and I don't ever sell my former associates short. Everybody I ran with is either dead or in prison."
Michael has worked as a motivational speaker for the last 25 years and his show An Evening with Michael Franzese - The Real Goodfella, will reveal previously untold stories.
Tickets for the show are on sale here.
