The Life We Chose: William "Big Billy" d'Elia and the Last Secrets of America's Most Powerful Mafia Family

By Matt Birkbeck

Book Overview

From a bucolic home base in Pittston, Pennsylvania, top don Russell Bufalino-with his so-called adopted son William "Big Billy" D'Elia at his side-held great sway over the five families in New York and others throughout the country during the lucrative, power-hungry, and often bloody heyday of the Mafia's reign over America. This was an era when organized crime's reach knew no limits, and Billy saw a hidden world firsthand, filled with the familiar faces of politicians, celebrities, and business tycoons. Billy would became a witness to major historical events that have stymied law enforcement and produced false and wild narratives-the infamous disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa, Russell instructing Marlon Brando on how to act like a boss on the set of The Godfather, and Billy spoiling a deal for future president Donald Trump to lure Micahel Jackson to perform at one of his casinos, to name a few. Billy succeeded Russell as boss of the Rufalino crime family until law enforcement eventually caught up with him. He served time in federal prison, but remained conspicuously silent about his connections to Russell and organized crime. Until now … In The Life We Chose, investigative journalist Matt Birkbeck unveils-for the first time, in Billy's own words-a riveting, revelatory, intimate, and unapologetic tale of crime, power, money, and family, told by a man who survived to tell the tale.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0063234688
• ISBN13: 9780063234680
• Release Date: July 2024
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"