MICHAEL GRILLO AKA MICHAEL FRANZESE IS AN EMBARSSMENT TO HIS FATHER'S LEGACY

 Depending on who you ask, the opinions differ on Michael Grillo, who was adopted by Sonny Franzese. Michael Franzese is a lot of things.  The one thing you cannot deny about Franzese, is his swagger, and he's a great storyteller. That's the issue with Michael, is he has a tendency to tell big stories, and tries to deflate the obvious about himself.  He is an informant, and no matter how hard he tries to deflect that truth, enough people know now, who he really is.  

It doesn't change his ability to tell a good story, as long as you know, it's simply a story inflated. He lives off the reputation of his father Sonny, who in all ways was a man's man, a gangsters gangster, whose legacy has been tarnished by the sons. It's not just Michael who sang to the feds, but his biological son John also was an informant, and even testified against his father.  Michael on the other hand, would testify against Norby Walters, and others. He was instrumental in the boxing scandal and helped setup people involved in that scandal, then would go on to testify in front of congress.  The fact that he claims he never became a rat is evaporated with his agreement to cooperate with the federal government in return for a lighter sentence, in which he signed and dated.  

You'd have to understand, there is a different between a confidential informant, versus a cooperating witness or confidential witness.  Franzese fit under the confidential informant status, meaning he wouldn't have to testify as long as he kept providing the juice to the feds, which he did. He was slated to testify against Vincent "the chin" Gigante, as he told someone in an interview, but "wasn't sure they would call him."  He word plays with the term informant, and tries to act as if, he never gave an inch, but he did.  

He has elevated his status in the underworld, self-entitling himself a boss, when he never was. He has like many informants before and after him, elevated his power and status within the crime family he was a part of. He claims he never killed anyone, however, there are those who do believe he had a hand in the murder of a guy who was dating his sister, and while there is no proof of that, he continuously skirts that issue, and recently on Pierce Morgan, tongue-in-cheeked the question.  He wants you to think he might have, because he believes it elevates his status.

Reality is this. Michael was never a tough guy in the streets. He was merely a place hold for his father,  and nothing more.  He never sat down with bosses to negotiate anything. Those are all situations he has invented for the sake of his YouTube persona. Most mob guys will tell you he "never cracked an egg," and that he "used his father's reputation to scare people." His business acumen also is something that is subject to debate, because he has changed that Russian gas tax scam story a million times to make himself look like a genius when in fact, that entire racket was formed and run by Marat Balagula. Franzese merely tried to shake Balagula down, and when Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso found out about it, all bets were off.  There was a sit-down called for Franzese's attempts, but he didn't show up. Pretty cowardly.  If he invented the scam, why not show up and throw a beef with Balagula?  The simple reason is, he tried shaking down someone with zero acumen of power to back it up, and when the heat came, he took off.

Michael's ability to make money, didn't come from acumen, but rather arrangements made by other bosses especially like the gas tax scam. Casso and others cut up the proceeds to all five families, and everyone made millions.  Past that, what is Michael's financial wizardry?  Can anyone pinpoint me to some other scam Michael created that made the mob millions? I'll be here the rest of my life waiting, because there is no truth to it. Michael was a place holder, nothing more nothing less. His stories about beating John Gotti at this racket and that, is a total fabrication of events that never happened. Much of Michael's story is shrouded in this infamy of Don Corleone, when the truth is more like Don Knotts. 

Sonny's infamy was built on credibility, toughness and being able to be ferocious when needed.  However, most of Sonny's life was spent in prison.  He was in prison longer than he was on the streets, and that didn't make him less capable, it proves his strength, because after getting out of prison he came back to New York City like a powerhouse. He carried weight, he was totally respected.  When the Colombo's began to have issues with Michael, and the main issue was they believed he was stealing from them, and those still around today claim he was 100% pilfering off the top of the gas tax. The Colombo's thought about killing him as a result. They knew he was doing it, and had a sit down with Sonny over the matter.  Sonny explained, if his son was stealing, he should be killed, and he would not stand in the way.  For whatever the reason the Colombo's backed off, and for good reason.  They suspected he was talking to the feds. I recently sat down with someone, who told me 100%, Persico was going to have Franzese killed, but they worried about the feds, because there were rumors he was talking. That's the only reason why Michael is alive today to spin his fairytales.

Sonny knew his son was bad. Sonny knew his son was weak. There relationship was rotten. Sonny wanted nothing to do with Michael. Nothing at all. Michael would like you to think he was a doting son, but he wrote a letter telling a judge to keep his father locked up.  What son does that? Who does that? The one thing I agree with Michael on, is that his father did a ton of time for robberies he never committed.  Those are simple facts, he spent decades in the can for a crime he never was involved in, but because Franzese was considered so dangerous the feds wanted him off the streets.  When Sonny exits, and even into his mid to late 90's was still shaking down guys, and still scaring the pants off anyone who tried to flex. Sonny was a different breed all together, a man's man, a cut above the rest, however....

One of the more interesting things, is that Sonny spoke to the press. It's a mafia no no. He intermingled with Michael after knowing Michael was a rat.  This is where the opinions seem to part like the Red Sea.  Some in the life chalk it up to the guys 100 and whatever, who cares. There are those, who see it very very differently.  Even though he never talked about the mafia, and kept whatever he said to boxing, women and Sinatra, there are some who didn't like it. To me, it doesn't matter. He was an old man, sharp as a tack, and was smart enough to give a few short stories about Sinatra and old New York.  To me, it doesn't make him bad nor making a mistake.  He was just Sonny being Sonny.  He lived his life on his terms.  That's how he always was.

With Michael on YouTube, exploiting his last name for fame, donations and attention, is pretty despicable, but that's what informants do. They monopolize their lives for cash.  Michael is a criminal, don't forget, and his ends are about dollar signs. The thing is though, there are many in the life, who would never forsake their father, never forsake their father's freedom for cash, and Michael did. Over and over and over.  Being the son of Sonny Franzese would be a story in and of itself, but Michael didn't go that route.  Instead he made himself one part Michael Corelone, another part Sonny Corelone, but he truly was wired more like Fredo Corleone with a hint of wannabe Virgil Solozzo.  Michael was not a boss. Michael was not a financial wizard. Michael was a place holder. Nothing more, nothing less.  In fact, if you listen to many of his "shows," you will find the story changes every week. He never tells the same story twice. It's always different.  He has to rely on Sonny Franzese, John Gotti and other names to counter balance the fact that was not a hierarchal guy, and that he was in fact, without any reservations a rat. Just look at his longevity in the life.  

In final, I think there is a little to like about Michael, personality wise, if you just know, that what you're being told and fed is bullshit. It's propaganda, it's a character he is playing.  If you know and realize he's an informant, and that most of what he says is lie filled, where he and a big name are the central cast, and you still enjoy it for it's entertainment value, then have at it.  However the more he talks, the more he quips about events he didn't take part in, the more he destroys the name Franzese, the one his father made for himself, the name Michael has profited off of his entire life.  Left to his own devices, he would have never had the makings of a varsity athlete.