The Determined Society with Shawn French
Jun 29, 2026 · 1 hr 27 min · 17 segments
Michael Franzese, former Colombo crime family captain, author, speaker, husband, father, and one of the only men to publicly walk away from the mob life and live to tell the story, joins The…
I wanna start at that moment, you know, 16 years old, young Michael, your dad is sentenced to 50 years in prison.
So it was, uh, you know, you have these defining moments in your life that just really have an impact on you, and this was one for me.
What were some of the early feelings in that room when, you know, of course, you know, it, it, it changed the whole trajectory of your life.
Right? You were a pre-med track and, you know, you, you transitioned out from that.
You went into the life, um, much to the, you know, objection from your father, and, you know, you became, you know, one of the, you know, you, you were the captain for the Colombo family, man.
And, you know, generating $8 million a week in, in, in the, in the gasoline tax scheme, and all that kinda stuff.
Well, what happened, you know, uh, you gotta understand, I grew up hating law enforcement.
I hated the government, I hated police, because I saw them as the enemy and my dad as the hero.
Because, you know, from the time I was three, four, five years old, my dad was surrounded by law enforcement.
And, you know, I always looked at him a- as harassing him and harassing my family.
I wanna start at that moment, you know, 16 years old, young Michael, your dad is sentenced to 50 years in prison.
So it was, uh, you know, you have these defining moments in your life that just really have an impact on you, and this was one for me.
What were some of the early feelings in that room when, you know, of course, you know, it, it, it changed the whole trajectory of your life.
Right? You were a pre-med track and, you know, you, you transitioned out from that.
You went into the life, um, much to the, you know, objection from your father, and, you know, you became, you know, one of the, you know, you, you were the captain for the Colombo family, man.
And, you know, generating $8 million a week in, in, in the, in the gasoline tax scheme, and all that kinda stuff.
Well, what happened, you know, uh, you gotta understand, I grew up hating law enforcement.
I hated the government, I hated police, because I saw them as the enemy and my dad as the hero.
Because, you know, from the time I was three, four, five years old, my dad was surrounded by law enforcement.
And, you know, I always looked at him a- as harassing him and harassing my family.
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