Mafia to Mormon: My Conversion Story by Mario Facione
We had the flu at our house last week and I read Mafia to Mormon while I was down for my 24 hours. Often times, non-fiction books can be heavy and laborious to read. But not this one. And let me assure you, you don’t have to be a Mormon to enjoy and learn from this book.
True Story
Let me begin with a ver
y brief overview. Mario Facione was a member of the Italian Mafia in Detriot back in the 60’s and 70’s. But all of that began to change when he was flew into Salt Lake City, Utah, looking for his next big scam. We got our copy from Jax’s grandmother’s estate so there was a little something extra tucked in the front cover. Grandma Petersen had clipped a newspaper article from the Deseret Morning News on Dec. 6, 2005. Entitled “Utah scam led to LDS faith and a new life for Mafioso,” by Doug Robinson, the article added to the intrigue of the book.
“As the title suggests, Facione joined the LDS Church and gave up his life of crime. After doing a fireside a few years later, he was approached by a woman about doing a book. Facione declined.
“‘I was scared,’ he says. ‘ I told her when I get through talking you won’t want to do this. When this gets on the street, you’ll evaporate with your family.’
“She persisted. He finally relented. He talked, she wrote (she still does not want her name published). Facione put the project off for two more years because ‘I had to wait for two guys to leave the scene,’ he says, meaning they had to die. He also did a thorough check of the statute of limitations. The book took 18 years to complete.”
Content
The book encompasses how Mario got involved with the Mafia and his subsequent role as their “cash cow.” But when two Mormon missionaries, who he mistakes for Feds, show up at his door, he finds his convictions changing rapidly. His religious conversion is accompanied by loss of fortune and family, and his struggle to transition between two lifestyles, resulting in his potentially lethal request to get out of the mafia.
The book might be described as Mario’s realization of what is meant by the saying ” you cannot serve two masters.” While discussing the many deals made in his life where a man’s word is his bond, Mario states, “Everything still comes down to a deal in my life, only this time the deal is between me and the Lord.”
Recommendation
I give Mafia to Mormon 12 out of 12 dozen rolls. This book had me laughing, crying, and gasping in unbelief as I root for a member of the mafia. And no, you don’t have to be a Mormon to enjoy it.