"Wiseguy" dead at 69

Mobster Turned FBI Informant Dead at 69

I'm sure that if you ask most people about what their favorite mobster movie is, they'll answer with one quick word..."Goodfellas."  

 

"Henry Hill, the famed mobster turned FBI informant whose life story was documented in the book "Wiseguy" has died at the age of 69." TMZ Reported. Hill died at a Los Angeles hospital of an undisclosed illness on Tuesday. Hill was famously associated with New York's Lucchese crime family throughout the 1960s and into the 1980s. He began his life of crime at the age of 11 while growing up on the working class East New York section of Brooklyn by running errands for Paul Vario, a captain in the Lucchese family.

Hill's major achievement was completed when he and Thomas DeSimone (Joe Pesci in "Goodfellas") famously robbed "Air France" of a shipment worth $420,000 in 1967. In the 1970s Hill spent six years in prison after he was found guilty of extortion. While in prison, with the help of his wife Karen, Hill still managed to operate outside the law by smuggling drugs and food. He was eventually released early in 1978 for being a model prisoner.

Hill became an FBI informant following a 1980 arrest on a narcotics-trafficking charge, and testimony he delivered led to 50 arrests. Hill ultimately entered the witness protection program and changed his name. Later after an ugly divorce, he relocated to Malibu and began dating Lisa Caserta. Henry started making profits off of artwork on eBay. Lastly, in order to publicize his "achievements" Hill made frequent guest appearances on "The Howard Stern Show". In 2010, Hill was inducted in the Museum of the American Gangster in New York City.

 

A tough story to read, yet stay tuned for additional news with possible specifications on Henry Hill's sudden death.