'Brasco' tells story of duping the Mafia

CENTURY CITY, Calif. -- He was one gruff goombah, a "made" guy who managed to keep his head while others around him were (literally) losing theirs.

Joseph Pistone -- better known by his assumed name, Donnie Brasco -- was an FBI agent who infiltrated the Mafia for six long years. Now that his cover is blown and he's retired, there's still a contract out on his head, and he always travels under an assumed name.

What it took to worm his way into the powerful Bonanno family was a facile mind and what he calls "street smarts."

"You have to be very street smart, and you have to be a good communicator and don't ever sweat. Don't ever let them see you sweat. Whenever I see a guy sweat, I know he's nervous, and I know I can do him," says Pistone, who's nattily dressed in dark olive slacks, a beige, striped sweater and brown moccasins.

Both a self-penned book and a powerful movie, "Donnie Brasco," followed Pistone's exploits as he navigated the mean streets of the Mafia hierarchy.

Part of his daring story will be told when the National Geographic Channel presents the four-hour special "Inside the Mafia" on June 13 and 14.

Some close calls

During his tenure, there was more than one bone-chilling moment, says Pistone, who served in Naval Intelligence before he went joined the FBI.

"I had individuals that were jealous of me because I was a younger guy, new face, only a couple of years around. I had good relationships with the capos that were running the family, so guys were jealous of me there. And the worst thing you could be called in the mob or on the street was 'informant.' So I had one guy, Tony Mira, particularly, who was a made guy who I had many run-ins with. And he went to the bosses and told them I'd stolen $250,000 in a drug deal that we did. That's a big no-no -- stealing money from the mob," he smiles.

"'Course, he's a made guy so they had to listen to him. We had several sit-downs over that situation. A sit-down is basically a meeting. He brings in his people. I have to have my representatives, and luckily, my representatives won the sit-down because if you lost a sit-down, in that situation -- where the infraction is stealing money from the mob -- they're gonna kill you."

Another time two wiseguys who'd just been released from jail didn't like the new kid on the block and complained to the boss about Donnie Brasco. " 'Look, we don't trust him, we don't know him.' And they had this right because they're made guys. So I come to the club one day and go in and the capo says, 'Donnie, we gotta talk. We have to straighten this out.' Now I'd been with these guys nine, 10 months, so we go into the back room, they lock the door and put their guns on the table. You've got to convince them you're Donnie Brasco, otherwise you're going out rolled up in a rug," he says.