John Franco is under investigation for ties to mafia families. I don't have a link but read it in today's AZ Republic. Way to go, Johnny!
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/30/sports/baseball/30franco.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/30/sports/baseball/30franco.html)
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Major League Baseball is expected to interview Mets pitcher John Franco in light of news reports that a member of the Bonanno crime family told the F.B.I. that Franco had given him and other crime family members free tickets to a Mets game in the early 1990's.
Baseball officials will probably speak with Franco and remind him of the negative appearance cast when a player associates with members of organized crime, a baseball executive with knowledge of the situation said yesterday. But the executive also said that he did not think Major League Baseball would conduct a formal investigation of Franco and that he did not expect Franco would be punished unless federal prosecutors were to accuse him of a crime.
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Nothing in Federal Bureau of Investigation records suggests that Franco is under investigation. Frank Lino, a Bonanno family member who helped federal prosecutors convict top members of the group, said in an interview with the F.B.I. last year that Franco had arranged tickets for Bonanno figures who took a trip to Montreal in 1993 to meet with Canadian associates, according to records of the F.B.I. interview. The Mets do not check the background of everyone on players' guest lists.
In the past few days, the Mets have had contact with Franco and Major League Baseball to discuss the episode. Officials from the Mets and Major League Baseball declined to comment yesterday. Franco released a statement Thursday through his agent, Dan Horwits, which included, "I am proud to be an Italian-American and have lived my life in a respectable fashion."
Every year, Major League Baseball dispatches its head of security, Kevin Hallinan, to each spring training site to talk with teams about common temptations and dangers. Someone familiar with the annual talks said Hallinan specifically warns players about associating with known gamblers and criminals. The message is that even if a player does not gamble and is not involved in any crime, the perception of possible wrongdoing could stain the player and the sport.
Franco, 44, who attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and St. John's University, is a 20-year veteran of the major leagues. He has played for the Mets since 1990, becoming the team captain and amassing 424 saves, second on the career list behind Lee Smith.
Although Franco went 2-7 with a 5.28 earned run average last season and was not expected to return to the team, he served as a part-time bullpen coach and was in line to remain with the organization if he wanted, perhaps as a coach.
Franco's image as a club icon could be affected by Lino's interview with the F.B.I. According to records of the interview, Lino said that he and other Bonanno family members had gone to Montreal in 1993 to tell the Canadian Bonannos that Joseph Massino was to become the family's new boss. In May of this year, Lino testified at a federal trial in Brooklyn that Massino used an object to hit Alphonse Indelicato, a Bonanno captain known as Sonny Red, in 1981. Soon after, Indelicato and two other Bonanno captains were shot dead, helping Massino rise to the top of the crime family.
Quote from: fknmclane on 10/31/04, 06:14:50 PM
I don't have a link
but our boy Gantry is always on top of things in the RBI forum. Thank you, kind sir.
news.google.com is your friend, remember that...
Concerning Franco, it appears very tame. Don't think it will amount to anything. Apparently Franco is still up in the air about pitching next season, but if he comes back it won't be for the Mets..
And he's proud to be an Italian-American and has lived his life in a respectable fashion.
When I read it in the paper it just struck me as funny. But if I'm reading the report right, he's in trouble for giving tickets to a Mets/Expos game? Usually you have to pay people to see those teams go at it.
I do understand where MLB is coming from.
I absolutely understand where MLB is coming from, but I think the implications regarding Franco's ties and character are minimal. No biggie to me, but I could be biased...
The "Bonnano" family? That's kinda funny-sounding.
Probably started by Richard "Boner" Stabone from Growing Pains, he looks shady...
Baseball officials will probably speak with Franco and remind him of the negative appearance cast when a player associates with members of organized crime
i love that part... it's good advice that we should all live by
Absolutely, a 40-something year old man needs to be reminded like a child that playing with gangsters is bad. Mmmmkay?