John "Sonny" Franzese, Sr. was a notorious Italian–American crime lord, hitman, mass-murderer, mobster, extortionist, racketeer, and businessman. He served as the underboss of the Colombo crime family that is involved in organized crime activities in New York City, US. An old-timer of the Colombo crime family, Franzese was associated with organized crime for over six decades. His criminal activities included racketeering, robbery, loansharking, narcotics trafficking, fraud, conspiracy, extortion, alleged rape, and mass murder. He was sentenced to fifty years in prison for masterminding several bank robberies. He was released on parole and returned to jail for parole violations on several occasions. He faced an 8-year prison sentence for crimes, including extortion and loansharking at 93 and was finally released in June 2017. By then, he had become the only centenarian in federal custody and the oldest federal prisoner in the US. He helped in financing the films ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ and ‘Deep Throat’ and was the associate producer of the film ‘This Thing of Ours.’
