Joseph D. Pistone

"Donnie Brasco" redirects here. For his autobiography, see Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. For the film, see Donnie Brasco (film).

Joseph D. Pistone
FBI surveillance photo of Pistone as Donnie Brasco
Born
Joseph Dominick Pistone

(1939-09-17) September 17, 1939 (age 85)
Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names"Donnie Brasco"
Alma materPaterson State College
OccupationFBI special agent
Years active1969–1986
Known forUndercover work infiltrating the Bonanno crime family
Notable workDonnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia
SpouseMaggie Pistone
Children3

Joseph Dominick Pistone (born September 17, 1939) is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981,[nb 1] as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family under the tutelage of Anthony Mirra and later Dominick Napolitano, and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City.[3] Pistone was an FBI agent for 17 years, from 1969 until he resigned in 1986. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members, and some responsible for his infiltration were also killed by other mobsters.

Pistone was a pioneer in long-term undercover work. The FBI's former director, J. Edgar Hoover, who died in 1972, did not want FBI agents to work undercover because of the danger of agents becoming corrupted.[1][failed verification] Nonetheless, Pistone's work later helped convince the FBI that using undercover agents in lieu of relying exclusively on informants was a crucial tool in law enforcement.[4] Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1988 book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, the basis of the 1997 film about his life.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference donnie was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference crime beat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Lovgren, Stefan (June 10, 2005). "FBI Agent 'Donnie Brasco' Recalls Life in the Mafia". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 15, 2005.
  4. ^ Pistone (1989), p. 112.


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).