John "Sonny" Franzese, the reputed underboss of the Colombo crime family, goes to trial next week pursuant to a June 2008 indictment "on racketeering, loansharking, and extortion charges involving a Long Island pizzeria," and among those slated to testify against the 93-year-old smut king -- he allegedly had a piece of the 1972 porno flick Deep Throat -- is his son John Franzese Jr. as reported by Jerry Capeci for The Huffington Post: "He'll be on the witness stand, pointing a damning finger at his old man. No matter what he says about that, Sonny is devastated by that betrayal, and surely distraught at being the only New York mobster in Gang Land's memory to have his son take the witness stand against him." Earlier this month Franzese was hit with new charges alleging he shook down the Hustler and Penthouse strip clubs. Capeci reports that "scheduled for trial with Sonny on various racketeering charges are local mob associates, John (Johnny Cop) Capolino, 41, and Joseph DiGorga, 69, who is also charged in the strip club extortions, as well as Los Angeles-based cohorts, Christopher Curanovic, 28, and Orlando (Ori) Spado, 65."
The Colombo crime family has been involved in the smut rackets -- massage parlors, porn distribution, sex clubs -- and Sonny Franzese allegedly did business with reputed Genovese capo Matthew Ianniello who was a dominant player in the gay bar industry from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. An October 8, 1967 article ("Mafia Increasing Investments in Business on L.I.") by Charles Grutzner from the New York Times states: '"Franzese is reported to have a concealed stake in several bars, motels and cocktail lounges, including places patronized by homosexuals. A sideline in the operation of such spots is the blackmailing of wealthy or prominent patrons." Steve Ostrow, the owner of the infamous Continental Baths at 230 West 74th Street in the Hotel Ansonia, alleges in his 2007 memoir Live at the Continental: The Inside Story of the World-Famous Continental Baths that the Colombo family provided his gay bathhouse with protection from rival mob families after he agreed to install its vending machines on the premises.
