While many people know a thing or two about the former underboss for the Colombo family, John ‘Sonny’ Franzese, only a few have heard about his wife Cristina Capobianco-Franzese. This article tells you how she ended up becoming a member of the infamous boss of the Colombo family.
Cristina Capobianco-Franzese’s Early Life and How She Become a member of the infamous family
Cristina Capobianco-Franzese was 16 and working as a cigarette girl in Manhattan, New york. Despite being just a tenager, her job required that she went into clubs where she could get more customers and make good money.
While working as a cigarette girl at a Stork Club in Manhattan, New York, Cristina met John Franzese. They had an affair even though John was a married man with three kids. From the affair Cristina got pregnant and had to marry a different man named Grillo to avoid scandals for having gotten a child out of wedlock.
John Franzese, however, seemed to have not been happy that Cristina Capobianco, who had given birth to their son Michael Franzese, had married another man. He divorced his wife, Cristina’s husband Grillo suspiciously disappeared and John went on to marry Cristina.
Who Really Was Cristina Capobianco-Franzese’s Husband John ‘Sunny’ Franzese?
John Franzese was an American mobster, a member and the underboss for Colombo crime family. He was born on February 6, 1917 when his parents had gone on a visit to Italy. John began crime as a teenager and in his early 20s, he had gotten arrested for multiple crimes including assault.
He masterminded bank robberies, infiltrated companies to illegally make money, and even committed tens if not hundreds of murders. Throughout his life, he got used to being arrested, serving his terms and the cycle continued.
In 2011 he was arrested and senteced for eight years, he became the oldest federal inmate in the US at his release in 2017. He died on February 24, 2020 at the age of 103.
Cristina Capobianco-Franzese Children
Cristina Capobianco children are Michael Franzese, John franzese Jr. and Lorraine Franzese. Her most notable children are Michael Franzese and John Franzese Jr.
Michael Franzese is well known as a former member and former coperegime of the Colombo crime family. He got heavily involved in organized crime during his fathers imprisonment in 1980s, during which he was in charge of his fathers illegal rackets.
Michael Franzese, however, changed and became a devoted christian. Today, he is an author, activist and a motivational speaker.
John Franzese Jr, now Mat Pazarelli, is Cristina Capobianco-Franzese youngest son. He made headlines in 2010 for testifying against his father leading to the imprisonment of John ‘Sonny’ Franzese, then 93 years old. John Jr for the fear of his life, lived under witness protection. However, he voluntarily got out of the witness protection and went to reconcile with his father at a nursing home.
Her Death
Cristina Capobianco-Franzese died in 2012 while his husband was in prison. This was after she succumbed to cancer.