About the Episode

For episode 149, we welcomed legendary FBI undercover agent, Joe Pistone, to the show! Joe worked undercover as “Donnie Brasco” between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members—and some responsible for his infiltration were also killed by other mobsters.

Pistone was a pioneer in long-term undercover work. Pistone’s work later helped convince the FBI that using undercover agents in lieu of relying exclusively on informants was a crucial tool in law enforcement. Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1988 book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, the basis of the 1997 film about his life.

In our discussion, we covered how he got involved in law enforcement and why he wanted to work undercover, how he was able to separate his dual life at home and as “Donnie”, the importance of teamwork, his actual creation of “Donnie Brasco”, if he lives in fear of retribution, dealing with a $500,000 bounty on his head, his reaction to his work becoming a Hollywood blockbuster film with Johnny Depp portraying him, and so much more! 

#donniebrasco #joepistone #mafia 

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