Michael Franzese Interview: From the Mafia to Jesus

I want you to think of someone you know who seems unreachable—someone you could never imagine carrying a Bible, going to church, or praising God. We all know people like that. And that’s why this Michael Franzese interview is so powerful.

Michael has one of the most amazing conversion stories I’ve ever heard. And I’ve had the opportunity to interview very interesting people, like Alice Cooper and Darrell Strawberry. But the story of Michael Franzese is one of the most amazing stories of all.

Raised in the Heart of Organized Crime

Michael Franzese grew up surrounded by organized crime. His father, Sonny Franzese, was the underboss of the Colombo crime family—second in command of one of the most powerful mafia families in America. Violence, loyalty, arrests, and prison were part of Michael’s reality from a young age.

Although Michael loved and admired his father, he did not originally want to follow in his footsteps. He dreamed of playing baseball or becoming a doctor. But when Sonny Franzese was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison, everything changed.

Choosing “The Life”

At just 21 years old, Michael was told that if he didn’t help his father, he would die behind bars. Michael left college and entered the mafia. He took a blood oath that promised death to anyone who betrayed “the life.”

Michael became a captain in the family and one of the most powerful mob figures in America. Fortune magazine later listed him among the country’s top mafia leaders. 

“I was the youngest guy on the list. I was number 18. I was five behind Gotti… I always say it was a silly list… But what’s not silly about the list is that out of the list of 50 today, 48 of them are dead. Number 49 is doing life in prison, and I’m the only one alive and free,” Michael shared in our interview.

The Cost of the Mafia Lifestyle

Michael watched “the life” devastate family after family, including his own. 

His father spent decades in prison. His mother lived most of her life without her husband. His siblings struggled deeply, and Michael himself faced repeated indictments, arrests, and trials.

Broken in Solitary Confinement

Alone in prison, Michael reached his breaking point. 

“I’m laying there and I’m just done. And then a prison guard walked by my cell and he said ‘You don’t look good.’ He opened a flap on the door and I said, ‘Get away from me. I don’t want to see you…’ And he came back about maybe two minutes later and he pushes a Bible through the slot on the door.”

Initially, Michael angrily threw the Bible at the wall. But then he realized it was just “him and God” in the cell. Proverbs 16:7 stopped him cold: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

“ And because I had nothing but time on my hands, 29 months to be exact, I dove into the Bible…  I came out there a solid believer in the Bible, and Jesus as my Savior,” Michael said.

No one is beyond the reach of God. If God can reach a mafia man, He can reach anyone…

Listen to the full Michael Franzese interview on the Greg Laurie Podcast, where he dives deeper into his full story, candidly reflects on the meaning of masculinity—plus, he covers why Hollywood both glamorizes and misrepresents the Mafia lifestyle.