Donnie Brasco movie vs reality

HOW ACCURATE IS DONNIE BRASCO? JOE PISTONE’S BOOK. DONNIE BRASCO REAL CHARACTERS

After the end of the FBI undercover operation in the mob in 1981, agent Joseph Pistone changed his life to another form of undercover life in the shadows. Within the next six years, he participated in multiple legal prosecutions against the American Mafia (Cosa Nostra) not only in New York but all over the United States. Joe Pistone had started taking notes on his own to refresh his memory and fill his great amount of time, being a witness under cover. Former FBI agent Joe Pistone emphasizes that during his work, he had to remember and keep in his mind the maximum of events and details, as it was too dangerous to make notes at that time. It was the first step of the future book. The writings were to be edited by Richard Woodley. The main part of the Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in Mafia book was finished in 1986. Joe Pistone reflected on his memory on a piece of paper. The book starts with an epilogue, written in 1988 – it was the year the memoir was published. Within the next thirty years, the memorable book Donnie Brasco by Joseph Pistone will have exceeded dozens of editions. Starting from 1997 and the Donnie Brasco movie, most of the editions’ covers are illustrated with images from the film.

THE WHIRLWIND

Former FBI undercover agent Joseph Pistone starts his real Donnie Brasco true story from the end, with the events after the end of the FBI operation. Joe Pistone describes in detail how he and his family went under the full protection of the bureau with the Witness Protection Program. Stories about the period between coming out of the mafia and the prosecutions all over the country as a witness. Famous 500,000 rewards for the head of Donnie Brasco – a contract made by mafia bosses in 1981 to eliminate the traitor. Pistone states the incidents when some strangers made visual threats to him during the criminal cases in courts and how people he knew from the mob reacted to him, now an FBI agent.

THE BEGINNING

This chapter of Joe Pistone’s book describes the life of Joe Pistone before he was closely connected with the American mafia and among the criminals. The former FBI agent shares his feelings on the first steps within law enforcement in the USA, even in college. Being an FBI agent, Joseph Pistone managed his network of informants on the street. The first real case was the penetration into crime organizations, which succeeded in car theft in the Southeast of the US. They took different vehicles, from Cadillacs to dump trucks and gas trucks. Agent Joseph Pistone spent five months undercover inside this organization and finally participated in big court trials, which ruined the crime empire with millions of dollars in profit. It was the case that had made Joe Pistone’s reputation within the FBI.

PREPARATIONS AND HITTING THE STREETS

The author Joe Pistone reveals why he has started to use the famous Donnie Brasco nickname (pseudonym), which he took for his first mission, from the deep memories of old movies or TV series. It was a whole new practice for the FBI in the 1970s to maintain long-term undercover operations with agents inside organized crime structures. At that time, only six months were determined for Donnie Brasco’s operation. Joseph Pistone describes why the FBI decided to protect the image with a jewelry cover story – he then studied this kind of work for months on behalf of the famous jewelry company.  Donnie Brasco’s operation was initially so sophisticated that only a few FBI agents were aware. The book’s fourth chapter reveals a long and thorough process of hitting the street and adaptation. Real Donnie Brasco, Joe Pistone, was meticulously careful not to attract unnecessary attention to himself from the mob. The agent had to maintain the balance between the necessity to become more and more acknowledged on the street and avoiding suspicion from the wiseguys.

BROOKLYN: THE COLOMBOS

An important period of undercover work for Donnie Brasco before getting acquainted with Lefty (Benjamin Ruggiero) was not reflected in the Donnie Brasco movie. Employing indirect connections, Joseph Pistone was introduced to a man called Jilly. He was a connected guy who had some deals with the Colombo family in New York but was not himself a made guy. Jilly operated his own gang-robbing stores, auto trucks, warehouses, and private accommodations. Next, Joe Pistone continues his book with the overall structure of the American Mafia. Each mob family has its chief boss, who operates the whole business with the help of captains or capos. Their power is divided among city districts. Capos have to give a part of their earnings to their boss, who they manage to have on their territory. Captains, therefore, manage multiple mafia soldiers (made-guys or wiseguys), who are the basis of making money. Soldiers have to give up to half of the profit to their capo.

THE BONNANOS

The sixth chapter of the Donnie Brasco book introduces Lefty (Benjamin ‘two guns’ Ruggiero), who operates a small restaurant in Little Italy. The book does not give us a kind of spontaneous getting-to-know-each-other between real Donnie Brasco, Joe Pistone, and Lefty, as it has been described in the 1997 movie. Benjamin Ruggiero initially did not have a major part in the book. In 1977, Joseph Pistone kept doing business with the Jilly gang and started his run-a-scam with the Bonanno family from Little Italy. As Donnie Brasco was just a connected guy, he could do business with guys from different families. Within the period, Donnie Brasco becomes acknowledged as “Don the Jeweler”.

TONY MIRRA

Joseph Pistone describes the five New York families: Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, Colombo, and Bonanno. Tony Mirra was a made guy within the Bonanno family and was known for his bad temper even among mobs. At the same time, Joe Pistone got closer connections with Lefty (Benjamin Ruggiero) with some involvement in a business. After all, Joe Pistone and FBI supervisors decided to continue closing in on Lefty with more mafia connections. Benjamin Ruggiero gave more trust to Donnie Brasco and said that he is now under his control and responsibility. The author debates the qualities that every undercover agent must have to perform this kind of work without revealing the truth. Joe Pistone ignored smoking and drugs as pleasures with women – he was always faithful to his wife.

LEFTY

This chapter of Joe Pistone’s book reveals the detailed nature of the relations between the real Donnie Brasco (Joe Pistone) and Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero. At the time of their first acquaintance in 1977, Lefty was just recently officially appointed as a made guy within the Bonanno family. Despite long-term service and authority, Lefty had problems with gambling and debts, which had postponed his official acceptance to the Bonanno family as a wise guy. The curious thing is that for a long period, Donnie Brasco and Lefty did not say their second names to each other – getting out such information is taboo inside the mafia. Joseph Pistone describes an apartment where Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero lived for years. His drug-addicted son and two daughters (ignored in the Donnie Brasco movie). After only a few months of doing mutual business, Joe Pistone was the best man at a Lefty’s wedding. The book also describes Lefty’s restaurant in Little Italy – how it was operated and who attended it. The author also thoroughly explains the meaning of such formulations as Forget about it, A friend of mine, A friend of ours – of vital importance for the mob.

MILWAUKEE / THE ACCIDENT / FRANK BALISTRIERI

Within these three chapters, Donnie Brasco’s true story steps aside from the events depicted in the 1997 movie. As fast as Lefty gives more trust to Donnie, he is getting information on his former business before coming to New York. The FBI decided not to lose the opportunity, and the bureau involved another agent with a Tony Conte pseudonym who operates in Milwaukee. The city belongs to the dominance of Chicago mafia families, and the FBI decided to try to connect two separate groups of the mob. Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero had to obtain permission not only from his capo but also from the Bonanno family boss. Ultimately, the case with the car business failed, and Lefty describes this attempt as a shameful incident. At the same time, Joe Pistone’s wife got into a serious car accident while getting to the airport to meet her husband. For some time, she lost her sense of sight and had to breathe using special medical equipment.

SONNY BLACK / KING’S COURT / COLDWATER

This chapter of Donnie Brasco’s book starts with the assassination of Carmine Galante, Bonanno’s family boss. In the true story, Sonny Black had no relevance to this important event. He was not a member of the same group Lefty was, as it was depicted in the Donnie Brasco movie. Sonny Black used to operate in Brooklyn, not in Little Italy. Sonny was appointed a captain instead of Mike Sabella, the former Lefty’s capo. At the same time, Donnie Brasco and Lefty moved to Florida to initiate a new business with a local guy who operates the restaurant. This person is also an undercover FBI agent. The operation aimed to connect New York mobs with Santo Trafficante, a local boss for 25 years. In Joe Pistone’s book, Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero did not hide this business from Sonny Black to operate separately – he obtained an agreement. Donnie Brasco was introduced to Santo Trafficante as “A friend of ours’’ but there was no conflict between Donnie (Joe Pistone) and Lefty, no envelope, and different parts of a boat – no betrayal.

DRUGS AND GUNS

Sonny Black and Donnie Brasco came closer. They used to spend time together, even lifting weights at Sonny’s apartment and doing arm-wrestling with Donnie Brasco being a forever winner. While Lefty stepped aside, Sonny Black gave more and more important instructions to Donnie Brasco, despite his new subordinate being only a connected guy. Sonny Black (Michael Madsen in the Donnie Brasco movie) forced drug income, from weed to heroin. His soldiers delivered samples by aircraft across the country, and Joe Pistone had to be involved. Sonny Black told Donnie Brasco that he was ready to ask him to be a made guy during the next mafia sit-downs.

THE RAID

The chapter describes two important events, also depicted in the Donnie Brasco movie. The raid itself – it was the end of the King’s Court restaurant in Florida, managed by the police. Police crushed the bar and took only 20,000 dollars – common evening earnings and property of those who were there at the time. This raid had no connection with Santo Trafficante and Sonny Red. Lefty was not at the site. There was no money bag, hidden by Donnie Brasco, shown in the movie. The second important event connected with the boat called Left Hand. Lefty shows the newspaper to Donnie Brasco and emphasizes that it is FBI property. But there was no drama, no gun, and no big conflict between Donnie and Lefty.

SITTINGS / HITS (DID DONNIE BRASCO CUT UP BODIES?)

Anthony Mirra, Donnie Brasco’s mentor, accused him of stealing the profit. It is the second biggest sin in the Mafia after being a rat or informant. A special commission on this occasion involved representatives of all five New York families. Donnie Brasco had no insights into the situation, but only some foggy hints from Lefty. Sonny Black was also deeply involved in sittings. At that time, he became the major and most powerful captain within the Bonanno family and even made Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero a captain. The conflict inside the family between different groups resulted in the assassination of Sonny Red. Joe Pistone has never assisted in this murder and has not sliced men into pieces. Lefty and the other three guys fulfilled the contract. So, the answer to the popular question did Donnie Brasco cut up bodies? is NO.

THE CONTRACT

Sonny Red was not cut into pieces in his basement. Bonanno’s captain was shot with a firearm and buried in a hastily dug pit in New York’s park. Sonny’s Red body was found by children, who had noticed leather boots sticking out of the ground. But his inmates were killed and their bodies disappeared in plastic bags. Joseph Pistone evaluates both the advantages and negatives of the possibility of becoming a made guy. Who could influence the case? Instead, the situation worried the FBI supervisors, and they decided to finish Donnie Brasco’s operation and get Joe Pistone out of the mob. Thus, in 1981, he initiated his last finishing phase of work as an agent within the Bonanno family, which had to be ended in only six weeks. Agent Joe Pistone had an order to collect as much information as he could, without revealing his true personality and dangerous suspicion upon his curiosity. At that time, Sonny Black frankly tells Donnie Brasco that he was the only person he could trust.

COMING OUT

The real Donnie Brasco story did not have a dramatic scene of getting out during the contract with Lefty, as it was depicted in the Donnie Brasco movie. Agent Joseph Pistone remained undercover until his last day as Donnie Brasco. On the appointed day, he had just disappeared and ended all contacts with the mob guys. Soon after, another FBI agent came to Sonny Black to tell the real Donnie Brasco story and reveal some general details of the operation inside the Mafia. For another ten days, Sonny did not accept the news, but then he realized the scale of the catastrophe and revealed the situation to his boss, Paul Castellano, and Santo Trafficante. A week later, Sonny Black was called to the station and did not come back. His decomposed body with hands cut was found inside a plastic bag a year later. Tony Mirra, who was the person who had introduced Donnie Brasco to the mafia, was also whacked with multiple gunshots. The FBI arrested Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero, and in this way, saved him from being killed.

EPILOGUE

Within the last epilogue chapter, former FBI agent Joe Pistone sums up six years spent inside the mob and draws moral conclusions. At the end of his book, Pistone gives several names. Connected guys, wise guys, and bosses, who were mentioned within the text, and their further destiny. Some Donnie Brasco real characters were whacked by their inmates, and the others were sentenced to prison terms. Joe Pistone again revealed details on his testimonies in the court, travels all over the country, and changing names. In 1988, the author added an update for his epilogue. By that moment in time, the former agent had visited some TV programs and done interviews. The Donnie Brasco book finishes with almost rhetorical thoughts about a possible meeting between Joseph Pistone and Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero.

HOW ACCURATE IS DONNIE BRASCO? DONNIE BRASCO MOVIE VS REALITY

Soon after the first Joe Pistone book edition in 1988, the rights for the screen adaptation were bought by Barry Levinson’s production company. At that time, Al Pacino was the only candidate for the Lefty role, and Tom Cruise was considered to act as Joe Pistone and Donnie Brasco. The stunning success of ”Goodfellas” by Martin Scorsese in 1990 raises an issue about the future of another crime drama about the mafia. The Donnie Brasco movie project was reanimated in 1996 with the change of director and actor for a leading role – Johnny Depp.

The Donnie Brasco movie gives us an amazing atmosphere of the 1970s, which has become remarkable in the long perspective. Criminal New York, controlled by mafia families, sunny Florida is a place where wiseguys from NY manage their business. Automobiles, fashion, hairstyle, leading and secondary characters’ performances, and a contrasting color balance between warm Florida and cold New York. ‘Donnie Brasco’ movie creatively absorbed the inspiration from “The Godfather”, “Goodfellas”, and “Scarface”, but it is still not so famous.

Fiction movies, even those based on real events, should not pretend to be documentaries, but the Donnie Brasco movie is close to reality and real characters behind the scenes. Apart from all the obvious facts from the real Donnie Brasco story, it is a pleasure to see the details. For example, in scenes where Lefty (Al Pacino) tells Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) usually untold truth on how wiseguys should act themselves: ignore bar checks, introduce each other, say “forget about it”, twist money packs. In one of the scenes, Al Pacino checks Donnie’s car for wires, almost destroying the front panel. In his book, Joe Pistone emphasizes such accidents when some mob guys checked his vehicle. Or a comedian’s fear of Lefty freezing even in Florida – guys spoiled the conditioner to have fun. Even though Johnny Depp was not so similar to the real Donnie Brasco whom he depicted artfully, similar to Al Pacino (Benjamin Lefty Guns Ruggiero) and Michael Madsen (Sonny Black).