MAFIA KINGPIN. The True Story of Sonny Gibson.

Hardback, 1st US edn. A true story documented by confidential records, newspaper articles, and photographs. It is both the shocking, fast-paced autobiography of Sonny Gibson and an expose of never-before-revealed inner workings of the Mafia and the United States prison system. A poor Indiana farm boy obsessed with the ideal of the fast buck, Sonny supported himself as a sideshow freak with a curious overdevelopment, and as a brutal robber. His ruthlessness caught the eyes of admiring Mafiosi and though only half-Sicilian, Sonny was sent to Sicily to train, becoming the only American to take vows in their closed circle. After earning a reputation as the Mafia's fiercest assassin, Sonny posed as an insurance executive and learned how to engineer sophisticated financial swindles. Despite illitercy, he amassed millions from international scams, building his own personal fortune as a casino owner, narcotics smuggler, and highly paid gigolo with a voracious sexual appetite. He conned innocents, celebrities, and politicians before he was finally sentenced to a state penitentiary. There Sonny continued extorting, pimping, and murdering until he was beaten up by prison guards and thrown into solitary confinement for 65 days, eating mice to stay alive. The former mobster emerged a different man. He educated himself, but 3yrs. later Sonny Gibson went blind A miracle that still astonishes the medical profession restored his eyesight and got him released from his life sentence. Once a vicious Mafia kingpin, Sonny Gibson became a living example that anyone can change, becoming a succesful actor, giving half his income to help underprivileged youth and ex-convicts. Illus. 540pp. lge. 8vo. Blank white label on fpd o/w F. in vg+ pcdw. which has a small closed tear on fr. cover. This book weighs over 1kg.