From Mob Boss to Man of Faith: The Real Story of Michael Franzese
6/29/20261 hr 27 min
Michael Franzese, former Colombo crime family captain, author, speaker, husband, father, and one of the only men to publicly walk away from the mob life and live to tell the story, joins The Determined Society for a powerful conversation on family, loyalty, faith, accountability, forgiveness, and redemption. In this episode, Shawn French and Michael discuss the moment his father was sentenced to 50 years in prison, why Michael left the path to becoming a doctor, what it meant to enter the Colombo family, the blood oath, the gasoline tax scheme, trials, prison, and the decision to walk away from the life publicly. Michael also opens up about the contract placed on his life, his complicated relationship with his father, reconciling with his brother, refusing to cooperate, and how faith helped him rebuild a life rooted in family, purpose, and second chances. The Determined Society is hosted by Shawn French — a show for people who refuse to quit. Every episode goes beyond the highlight reel to explore the real stories behind resilience, reinvention, and the relentless pursuit of a life built on your own terms. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all others.. If this episode moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — and leave a review. It helps more than you know. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Michael Franzese· Guest0:29
I grew up hating law enforcement. I hated the government, I hated police, because I saw them as the enemy and my dad as the hero. From the time I was three, four, five years old, my dad was surrounded by law enforcement.
Shawn French· Host0:42
Mm-hmm.
Michael Franzese· Guest0:42
There's a misconception out there that mob guys sit in their social clubs and they think of the next business they're gonna attack or defraud or- Mm-hmm.
Shawn French· Host0:51
The 1986 Fortune magazine top 50 mob bosses in America, the guy sitting next to me was on it. He's now a speaker, an author, a husband, a father. I wanna welcome Michael Franzese to the show. My challenge to people all around the United States of America, can we learn to disagree again? We're fighting over things that are trivial- Right ... compared to what you're talking about, and yet there was still reconciliation, respect, and no love lost. But yet there's people dying on the streets.
Michael Franzese· Guest1:20
You know, the CIA, why would you trust them? Their job is to be dirty.
Shawn French· Host1:24
Yeah. You've done something that nobody else can say that they did.
Michael Franzese· Guest1:29
Mm-hmm.
Shawn French· Host1:29
You walked