Paul Davis On Crime: The Way of the Wiseguy

Showing posts with label The Way of the Wiseguy. Show all posts

Monday, November 5, 2012

The Mafia's Greatest Hits: Donnie Brasco And Legendary FBI Special Agent Joseph Pistone

I came across a good documentary about Joseph Pistone, the legendary FBI undercover special agent.

The program covers Joseph Pistone's six years undercover with the Bonanno New York Cosa Nostra crime family.

You can watch the program via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDd72VXRFqo

I interviewed Joseph Pistone a few years ago and you can read my column about the legendary FBI special agent via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/01/look-back-at-joseph-pistone-aka-donnie.html

You can also read my Philadelphia Inquirer review of Joseph Pistone's book, The Way of the Wiseguy, via the below link:

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WayWiseguy.jpg

Note: The top photo is of Joseph Pistone. The middle photo is of Joseph Pistone undercover as "Donnie Brasco," and the third photo shows Joseph Pistone with Bonnano captain "Sonny Black."

Monday, August 22, 2011

Legendary FBI Special Agent Joseph D. Pistone Speaks About His Time Undercover in the Mafia

Donnie Brasco, the Hollywood film featuring Johhny Depp as Joseph D. Pistone, the legendary FBI Special Agent who went undercover to investigate the Bonanno New York crime family, and Al Pacino as New York mobster Benjamin "Lefty Two Guns" Ruggiero, is considered one of the most realistic mob movies ever made.

The film is based on Joe Pistone's book, Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.

You can watch Joe Pistone discuss his undercover life on a Current TV segment and hear actual recordings of Pistone's conversations with Lefty Ruggiero via the below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-G-7Ng76gA

I met Joseph Pistone when he visited Philadelphia a few years back and I later interviewed him.

You can visit an earlier post and see photos of of the legendary FBI Special Agent as well as the real mob guys. You can also read my column about Joe Pistone and my review of Pistone's book The Way of the Wiseguy in the Philadelphia Inquirer, via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/08/legendary-fbi-agent-joe-pistone-aka.html

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Legendary FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone, AKA Donnie Brasco, Spoke to Civic Group in El Paso About His Life Undercover in the New York Mob

Legendary FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone (seen in the above photo) recently spoke to an FBI civic group in El Paso, Texas about his time undercover in the Bonnano crime family in New York.

Known as "Donnie Brasco" or "Donnie the Jeweler," Pistone spent six years undercover and his testimony put more than 100 mobsters in jail. (The photo above is of Pistone undercover as Donnie Brasco).

Pistone later wrote a book about his time with the mob called Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia.

Pistone spoke of his undercover years, the film Donnie Brasco, which starred Johnny Depp as Pistone, and how he would prefer to go undercover with Italian organized crime rather than the violent Mexican drug cartels.

The photo above shows Pistone undercover relaxing with "Sonny Black" Napolitano.

You can read about Pistone via the below link to The El Paso Times:

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15737526?source=most_viewed

Below is a photo of Benjamin "Lefty Two Guns" Ruggiero.

Above is a photo of Sonny Black with Florida mob boss Santo Trafficante. Below is a poster of the film Donnie Brasco.

Below is a photo of Johhny Depp as Pistone and Al Pacino as Ruggiero.

Below is a link to my review of Joe Pistone's book The Way of the Wiseguy, which appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

http://home.comcast.net/~pauldavisoncrime/pwpimages/WayWiseguy.jpg

I interviewed Joe Pistone a while back. Below is a link to my column about Pistone:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/01/look-back-at-joseph-pistone-aka-donnie.html

Paul Davis

Paul Davis is a writer who covers crime. He has written extensively about organized crime, cybercrime, street crime, white collar crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, the military, espionage and terrorism. His 'Crime Beat' column, which covers crime news, crime issues and crime prevention in South Philadelphia, appears weekly in the South Philly Review, and his 'On Crime' column, which covers crime in the Greater Philadelphia region, appears weekly at Philly Daily and Broad and Liberty. He is also a longtime contributor to Counterterrorism magazine and writes their online 'Threatcon' column, which covers crime, espionage and terrorism. Paul Davis' crime fiction appears in American Crime Magazine. His work has also appeared in the Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Weekly and other publications. As a writer, he has attended police academy training, gone out on patrol with police officers, accompanied detectives as they worked cases, accompanied narcotics officers on drug raids, observed criminal court proceedings, visited jails and prisons, and covered street riots, mob wars and murder investigations. He has interviewed police commissioners and chiefs, FBI, DEA, HSI and other federal special agents, prosecutors, judges, public officials, WWII UDT frogmen, Navy SEALs, Army Delta operators, Israeli commandos, military intelligence officers, Scotland Yard detectives, CIA officers, former KGB officers, film and TV actors, film writers, directors and producers, journalists, novelists and true crime authors, gamblers, outlaw bikers, and Cosa Nostra organized crime bosses. Paul Davis has been a student of crime since he was a 12-year-old aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 in 1970. He served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War and he later served two years aboard the Navy harbor tugboat U.S.S. Saugus at the U.S. floating nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland. He went on to become the civilian administrative officer of a Defense Department command in Philadelphia, where he oversaw security, safety and other programs for the command's military and civilian employees, and served as an investigating officer, while working part-time as a newspaper crime reporter and columnist. He retired in 2007 after more than 37 Navy/DOD years of service and became a full-time writer. From 1991 to 2005 he was a producer and on-air host of "Inside Government," a public affairs interview radio program that aired on Sunday mornings on WPEN AM and WMGK FM in the Philadelphia area. You can read Paul Davis' crime columns, crime fiction, book reviews and news and feature articles on this website. You can read his full bio by clicking on the above photo (by Brittany Davis-Pearson). And you can contact Paul Davis at pauldavisoncrime@aol.com.

Paul Davis On Crime