Legends & Icons

Joe Pistone is a national treasure and American hero. As an FBI special agent who went undercover as Donnie Brasco from 1976 to 1981, he infiltrated the Bonanno and Colombo crime families in New York City. While you might have seen the movie "Donnie Brasco," with Johnny Depp playing the role of Joe Pistone and Al Pacino as mob figure Lefty Ruggiero, Mr. Pistone lived it. He rose high enough that he was on the verge of being inducted as a "made man" in the Bonanno family. Despite facing constant danger, his excellent undercover work led to over 200 indictments and more than 100 convictions of mob members. Joe Pistone detailed his experiences in his excellent book: "Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia," which was the inspiration behind the movie, "Donnie Brasco."

You know the name: Frank Serpico. Immortalized by the 1973 film classic "Serpico" starring Al Pacino and Peter Maas's "Serpico" that same year, Frank Serpico was the "OG" of whistleblowers. He exposed widespread systemic corruption in the New York City Police Department during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and nearly paid for his honesty and integrity with his life. He is best known for his work as a plainclothes detective in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan, where he focussed on vice and narcotics. He refused to participate in or accept the routine bribes, payoffs, and kickbacks from gamblers, drug dealers, and businessmen that were commonplace among many officers during that time. Serpico testified openly before New York Mayor John Lindsay's Knapp Commission. He was the first NYPD officer to do so publicly. Then, during a drug bust on February 3, 1971, Serpico was shot in the face. It was disclosed that backup delayed their response, or did not respond at all. A bullet fragment remains in his brain. He received the NYPD's Medal of Honor in 1972.