Captain Fucko Implicated In Mob Probe



It really sucks when legitimate businessmen (and team captains) get smeared like this. From the New York Times' Lee Jenkins and William K. Rashbaum.

A member of the Bonanno crime family told federal investigators in an interview last year that John Franco, the Mets' pitcher, gave free tickets to a Mets' game in Montreal to him and other crime family members in the early 1990's, according to a record of the interview, conducted by the F.B.I.




Frank Lino, the Bonanno family member, who helped federal prosecutors convict top members of the family, said that he and other members went to the game during a trip to meet with the Canadian branch of the crime family. According to the record, Lino told investigators that he and the others went out with players on the Mets after the game.

Nothing in the record suggests that Franco is under investigation, but Major League Baseball has rules prohibiting players from associating with organized crime figures.

A Major League Baseball spokesman declined to comment last night, but said that the commissioner's office was aware of the report concerning Franco, which was first published on ganglandnews.com, a Web site run by Jerry Capeci, an author of several books about organized crime.

The Mets are also aware of the report, but referred questions about Franco to his agent. The agent, Dan Horwits, released a statement from Franco in which he cited the work he has done for his community and said he did not feel any need to respond to the report.

Posted: Fri - October 29, 2004 at 01:56 AM      

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