SINS OF THE FATHER. The True Story of a Family Running from the Mob

Hardback, 1st US edn. The story of a wiseguy who left the Mafia and tried to find a new life with his family. Sal Polisi, "Crazy Sal" as he was known in the Mafia, worked for both the Gambino and Colombo crime families. He ran a gambling club, operated an automoibile chop shop, hijacked trucks, sold drugs and stolen jewelry, and committed other crimes. But as his 2 sons grew older, Sal began to think about their future; a life in the Mob was not what he had in mind. Sal moved the family to upstate New York, where his older son became a star on the local high-school football team. A major college football scholarship looked probable until Sal decided to pay off some debts by dealing drugs - and got caught. Facing a prison term that would have put him away until his sons were grown men, Sal decided to do the unthinkable: he became a government informant. This is the story of Sal's undercover work on behalf of federal authorities. Sal helped the government convict a corrupt judge in Queens, and he testified in court against John Gotti, earning a Mob contract on his life in return. Sal, his wife, and his sons all entered the government's Witness Protection Program. But for Sal's sons, this posed a particular dilemma; as they re-emerged as football stars in their new identities, would they call attention to their father's past and expose the family to retribution from the Mob? Illus. 330pp. 8vo. h/back. F. in vg+ dw.