Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family (Hardcover)

~ Joaquin "Jack" Garcia (Author), Michael Levin (Contributor)
Key Phrases: counterfeit cigarettes, knockaround guy, other wiseguys, New York, Jack Garcia, Atlantic City (more...)

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Product Description

"Petey Chops wasn't kicking up. And if he didn't start soon, he was going to get whacked." So begins Making Jack Falcone, the extraordinary true story of an undercover FBI agent's years-long investigation of the Gambinos, which resulted in a string of arrests that crippled the organized crime family.

But long before Joaquin "Jack" Garcia found himself wearing a wire with some of the Mafia's top capos, he was one of the FBI's unlikeliest recruits. A Cuban-born American, Jack graduated from Quantico standing six-foot-four and weighing 300 pounds -- not your typical G-man. Jack's stature soon proved an asset as the FBI looked to place agents undercover with drug smugglers, counterfeiters, and even killers. Jack became one of the few FBI agents dedicated solely to undercover work.

Using a series of carefully created aliases, Jack insinuated himself in the criminal world, from the Badlands of Philadelphia, where he was a gregarious money launderer, to the streets of Miami, where an undercover Garcia moved stolen and illicit goods and brought down dirty cops. Jack jumped at the opportunity to infiltrate the shadowy world of La Cosa Nostra, but how would the Cuban-American convince wiseguys that he was one of their own, a Sicilian capable of "earning his button" -- getting made in the Mafia? For the first time, the FBI created a special "mob school" for Jack, teaching him how to eat, talk, and think like a wiseguy. And it wasn't long before the freshly minted Jack Falcone found himself under the wing of one of the Gambinos' old school capos, Greg DePalma. DePalma, who cared for an ailing John Gotti in prison, introduced Falcone to his world of shakedowns, beatings, and envelopes of cash, never suspecting that one of his trusted crew members was a federal agent.

A page-turning account of the struggle between law enforcement and organized crime that will rank with such classic stories as Donnie Brasco, Serpico, and Wiseguy, Making Jack Falcone is an unforgettable trip into America's underworld through the eyes of a highly decorated FBI veteran.

About the Author

Jack Garcia spent a total of twenty-six years as a special agent for the FBI. He has received awards from the United States Attorney's offices in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Miami, as well as the FBI's Director's Award for Investigative Excellence and the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. Now retired from the FBI, Jack enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Michael Levin writes and ghostwrites in Orange County, California, where he runs www.Business Ghost.com.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (October 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416551638
• ISBN-13: 978-1416551638
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #246,358 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "A MAFIA SMACK-DOWN IN BLOOMINGDALE'S!", October 20, 2008

By	Rick Shaq Goldstein "Rick Shaq Goldstein" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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The author Jack Garcia has retired after twenty-six years as a special agent for the FBI. The preponderance of that time was spent undercover infiltrating every type of organized crime imaginable... drug distribution... weapon sales... jewelry theft... counterfeit money... counterfeit cigarettes... government corruption... police corruption... and in perhaps his greatest achievement of all... not only infiltrating the infamous Gambino Mafia crime family... but being next in line to be crowned a "MADE-MAN"... "A WISE GUY"... "A-KNOCK-AROUND-GUY... but then the FBI pulled the plug on the operation despite Jack's vociferous objections.

Jack was only the second FBI agent to ever be accepted as a Mafia undercover "ASSOCIATE". The first was the legendary Joe Pistone: aka Donnie Brasco. What helped Jack be so successful in his undercover status, in addition to ice cubes in his veins and a giant pair of "brass-ones" was the fact that he just DID NOT LOOK LIKE AN FBI AGENT. The FBI has strict physical guidelines that must be met including a certain height and weight ratio. It took Jack two tries to make it into the FBI because of his weight. Jack was originally six-feet-four and two-hundred-fifty pounds. Jack was told he had to lose forty pounds and come back. Jack lost the weight... came back and made the cut... but that weight class would be a forgotten memory down the road.

The FBI actually conducted a "MOB-SCHOOL" to teach potential undercover agents how to be a mobster. How to talk... how to walk... how to dress... proper slang... and... how to eat like a Mafioso. As Jack would learn firsthand, eating was almost a full-time job in the Mafia. So eat is what Jack did... and at one point his weight came very close to the FOUR-HUNDRED-FIFTY-POUND MARK! Like I said... he DID NOT look like an FBI agent. Jack's undercover name "FALCONE" was selected in honor of a "courageous Sicilian judge who had been murdered by the Mafia along with his wife and three police bodyguards a few years earlier. The FBI had honored Judge Falcone with a bronze bust at the FBI Academy because of his fortitude in his fight against the Italian Mafia." In addition to the sheer terror that Jack faced every day and night gaining influence in the Gambino family... additionally... it is an almost "IMPOSSIBLE-TO-BELIEVE" fact that he was *SIMULTANEOUSLY* working undercover in four other major cases... all with different persona's... in different parts of the country from Florida to New York... involving among other things the counterfeiting of United States one-hundred-dollar bills in North Korea using the same ink and the same paper as the U.S. Treasury. "In the eyes of the Secret Service, they were as good as real." "COUNTERFEIT MONEY POSES A GREATER THREAT THAN PRACTICALLY ANY OTHER CONTRABAND WHEN IT COMES TO NATIONAL SECURITY. IF NORTH KOREA FLOODED THE UNITED STATES WITH THESE FAKE BILLS, IT COULD TAKE DOWN THE ENTIRE U.S. ECONOMY. THESE BILLS WERE THAT GOOD."

Meanwhile Jack "Falcone" was also attempting to win the trust of Gambino "Capo" Greg DePalma who was known to take "tough" stances with people he suspected of stealing from him. Such as putting a power drill to the head of someone he believed had stolen from him at a strip joint... "And on another occasion used a cattle prod on a guy's scrotum." For a little "light" work Jack would mix in setting traps to catch crooked cops in Florida... and expose Atlantic City politicians on the take. As Jack's weight mushroomed he worried about his health... but for a number of years in a row the FBI cancelled his yearly physical due to budget constraints. In one of the "black-humor" life-is-stranger than fiction scenes in the story... the Mafia got Jack and the rest of their crew health insurance through a corrupt union official, and they all went to get a checkup... and they found that Jack had a serious heart problem and they kept him in the hospital. The FBI didn't know where Jack was... he couldn't call his wife... and after all the years worrying he'd be killed by a Mafia bullet... it turned out that his illicit Mafia "union" health insurance may have saved his life!

The stories are endless, and Jack's a natural born raconteur. One story involves a visit with Greg DePalma to Bloomingdale's because they knew that Petey Chops a Made-Man ate there. It turns out that Petey wasn't "KICKING-UP" (Which means he wasn't sharing his ill gained loot with the individuals above him in the Mafia food chain.) so "the crew" waited for Petey to show up at Bloomingdale's... and when he shows... one of the boys grabs "a solid glass Kosta Boda candleholder, nearly a foot in length, from the nearest display and whacked Petey over the head with it. When it connected, I heard a "pop" like a broken cantaloupe. Bystanders gasped. Petey Chops dropped to the floor, unconscious, blood gushing from his head." NOTE: The author provides a footnote with the exact description of the lovely product/weapon directly from Bloomingdale's website. You will not put this book down... start to finish... and luckily Jack leaves us with an ending promise that he has many more stories to tell. I hope so, because I will be the first one to buy his next book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Quick Read, November 23, 2008

By	Jeff Hollis "Editor" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read. While it was not in the same league as "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, it was an interesting true tale of mob infiltration. I do have some criticisms of the book, but to go into them would give away too much of the tale. If you've read "Wiseguy," you may enjoy this one. If you haven't, read it first, but this was a solid book.
--Jeffrey Lee Hollis--

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing- and TRUE!, November 20, 2008

By	Fast Ed "fasted7" (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

A fun and exciting first person account of an FBI undercover agent's infiltration of an infamous NYC mafia family.
Another reviewer said it should be made into a movie. As I understand it, Paramount has acquired the rights to do just that.
Reminiscent of the story of Donnie Brasco (which was made into a Johnny Depp movie) it is amazing how Jack Garcia was able to work several undercover cases- simultaneously- and it raises many questions about why the FBI shut down the case just before Jack was about to be a "made" man. Though the case was still able to bring dozens of mafia members to justice, more might have been done and those questions are not answered- but that is certainly not the author's fault.
He seems evenhanded in expressing compliments and criticism to his higher-ups at the Bureau.
Most interesting for readers is that, not only does the author provide insight into the inner workings of the mafia, but also what he had to do to engage them and, eventually, become part of their inner circle.
Kind of like a fascinating look into the world of a real-life Tony Soprano.