The Real Donnie Brasco - Joseph D. Pistone

Joseph D. Pistone (born 1939), alias Donnie Brasco, was an FBI agent who worked undercover for years to infiltrate the Bonanno family, a branch of the Mafia in New York City. He developed a close relationship with Bonanno capo (crew captain) Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano, and was tutored in the ways of the Mafia by Bonanno mobster Benjamin Ruggiero. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members. Pistone's performance was so convincing that, at the time the operation ended, he had been proposed to become a "made man" (officially inducted into the Mafia).

Pistone's operation ended after six years when Sonny Black requested that he murder another mobster. Two days later, FBI agents informed Sonny Black and Lefty Guns that their longtime associate was in fact an FBI agent. Shortly thereafter, Black was murdered for having allowed an FBI agent to infiltrate the family. Following Black's murder, the Mafia put out a $500,000 on Pistone, but the contract was rescinded following a sitdown between FBI agents and members of the Bonnano family. Despite this, Pistone still remains in hiding to this day.

Bonanno boss Joe Massino was convicted in 2004 of ordering "Sonny Black" Napolitano killed for allowing Brasco into the family.

Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1987 book Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia. This book was the basis for the 1997 film Donnie Brasco, starring Johnny Depp as Pistone and Al Pacino as Lefty Guns. Pistone revisited his experiences as Donnie Brasco in his 2004 book The Way of the Wiseguy.

Pistone continues to be active as an author and consultant to worldwide law enforcement agencies. He also wrote a book, titled The Good Guys, with Joe Bonanno's son, Salvatore Bonanno.