'If you did him wrong he would kill you': The women breaking mafia code of silence to reveal what life is really like for a mob wife
Among the eight stories featured in I Married A Mobster, are those of the wife and daughter of Colombo family hitman 'The Grim Reaper', and women who wed members of the Luchese and Bonanno criminal clans...
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They have long inspired movie and television producers, with everything from The Godfather to The Sopranos taking their lead from New York's infamous mob clans.
But as a new series reveals, the reality is far less glamorous for the families behind the city's shady organised crime network.
I Married A Mobster sees eight former wives break the so-called 'code of silence' to reveal what it was like to have fallen for a mafia don.
Heartbreak and tragedy: The real-life mob wives, clockwise, from left: Cheryl Caruso, 'Big' Linda Schiro, 'Little' Linda Scarpa, Angela Calvancante, Love Majewski and Andrea Giovino
In honest accounts that could themselves form movie scripts themselves, Linda Schiro, Love Majewski and Angela Calvacante tell stories recalling the hit men, heartbreak and drink and drug abuse that has torn their families apart.
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ShareThe first episode, which airs next month, tells the story of Cheryl and Phil 'Philly' Caruso.
The glamorous blonde, from King's Point, Long Island, reveals how she had no idea that her husband was involved in organised crime, believing that his 'printing company' was funding their lavish lifestyle - but her world fell apart when Caruso was convicted of racketeering and drug dealing.
Abandoned: Cheryl Caruso was left broke, raising two daughters alone after her husband Philly was convicted of racketeering and drug dealing
The devastating turn of events left her broke, and alone in raising their two daughters.
She told the New York Post: 'I heard the judge say, "That's it, guilty, 15 to life." I didn't know what to do. I never expected to hear those words.
'Those were the only words I understood. That was the end of my fairytale. It was just hell after that.'
Equally compelling is the tale of Staten Island mother and daughter 'Big Linda' Schiro and 'Little Linda' Scarpa.
Big Linda married the so-called 'Grim Reaper', Greg Scarpa, as a teenager, following a love triangle that the Colombo mafia family, who used him as their hit man, was forced to resolve.
She was a doting wife surviving gang war and the loss of a child.
Despite his sinister profession, she says Scarpa, who died of Aids in 1994, was 'caring, giving to those he loved.'
Her daughter, Little Linda, was the apple of Scarpa's eye. But when she was drawn into the crossfire of the Colombo family war, the body count hit close to home.
'If you did him wrong, he would kill you,' Big Linda admitted.
Indeed for those born into mob families, it seems it can be near impossible for a woman to escape the mafia grip.
Angela Calvacante had moved from Howard Beach, NY, to Maspeth in an effort to cut her ties with organised crime - but she still ended up falling for Sal Bonina, son of Nick 'The Baron' Bonina of the high-ranking Luchese crime family.
Generation gap: 'Big Linda' Schiro (left) and 'Little Linda' Scarpa (right) were the wife and daughter respectively of the Colombo family's infamous hit man Greg 'The Grim Reaper' Scarpa
But Bonina's problems with drink and drugs made him violent - and his attachment to the Luchese family made it near impossible for her to leave him. She would eventually divorce him though, while her husband died homeless and a drug addict.
Another episode follows the story of Love Majewski, another mob daughter, who fell for Chris Paciello, a member of the Bonanno crime family and The Untouchables, Ray Merolle's car-theft operation which inspired the film Gone in 60 Seconds.
She herself became an accomplice to theft though, when Paciello, like Bonina, became violent and needed to call on the protection of Merolle.
After their relationship ended, Paciello moved to Miami, where he was arrested for allegedly murdering a porn king's wife. He is now a restaurant owner in LA, while Ms Majewski lives in Staten Island.
In too deep: Angela Calvancante (left) was trapped in a violent relationship with Sal Bonina. Love Majewski (left) fell for Chris Paciello, of the Bonanno family and the car-theft operation that inspired Gone in 60 Seconds
Compelling stories: Party girl Denyce (left) married Franzese scion John. The husband of Barbara Fama (centre) left his blue-collar job to join a mob, and Andrea Giovino (right) is said to have been involved with crime herself
More risky still was the alleged behaviour of Staten Island wife Andrea Giovino, who was in a relationship for many years with John Fogerty. She reveals how she faced an ultimatum in which she had to decide whether to give herself up or turn her back on the mafia at risk of death.
Among the other fascinating stories the series features are that of Barbara Fama, whose husband, Joe, leaves his blue-collar job to enter the criminal underworld, and Hollywood party girl Denyce, a reformed alcoholic who married John Franzese, the junkie son of gangster Sonny Franzese.
The show, which airs next month, is appropriately narrated by Goodfellas and Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco.
President and general manager of Investigation Discovery, Henry Schleiff, says I Married A Mobster is 'the first look at what life inside a mafia family is really like - the passions, the fears and, yes, even the humor!
'Who knew that behind every successful Don was a Donna?'
I Married A Mobster begins on July 13 at 10.30pm on Investigation Discovery
WATCH THE I MARRIED A MOBSTER TRAILER HERE...
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