Everyone knows the age old adage "snitches get stitches," yet for some reason people still decide to tattle. Maybe they aren't as afraid of needles as we are, or maybe they just don't take the term literally. Since the dawn of time people have been ratting each other out, whether it's to get ahead at work or to get out of trouble. On this list of famous snitches we've got mob bosses, cold blooded killers, hip hop wannabes, and even a US President! After all, you don't get to the top without getting a little dirty.
While you're reading through this list of famous informants who avoided jail time by turning in their closest pals (and accomplices) take some time for self reflection and remember that even when your friends annoy you, at least they aren't mob snitches!
It's bananas to think that some of the mafia snitches and other tattletales on this list were able to get off squeaky clean after all the heinous crimes they committed, just by naming names. If we knew all it took to get some of that sweet Witness Protection business was to ice some goodfellas, we'd have started icing gangsters a long time ago. Is that the right term? Icing?
From Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney (say whaaat?) to Linda Tripp and a whole lot of mafia guys with cool nicknames, these are the biggest snitches in history.
Infamous Snitches Who Avoided Life in Prison,
Al Sharpton
In 2014, The Smoking Gun reported that Sharpton, whose classified alias was “CI-7,” was heavily involved with the FBI in the 1980s. The report claimed Sharpton’s association with the Genovese organized crime family included recording conversations and led to the arrests of several mob members such as Dominick “Baldy Dom” Canterino and soldier Federico “Fritzy” Giovanelli. "CI-7" sounds cool but "Big Greasy" might have been a better nickname.
Source: The Smoking Gun
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was the director of such films as On the Waterfront and East of Eden, but he remains controversial in some circles for the testimony he gave before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In April 1952, the Committee called on Kazan, under oath, to identify Communists from his stint in the American Communist Party 16 years prior.
Kazan initially refused to provide names, but eventually named eight former colleagues who he said had been Communists. The move cost Kazan many friends within the film industry, including playwright Arthur Miller and actor Marlon Brando.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Francesco Marino Mannoia
This gumba was a high-ranking member of the Sicilian mafia who became a government witness in 1989, after an unsuccessful attempt to replace the local mob boss left him marked for death. In the aftermath of his testimony, he moved to the United States and entered the Witness Protection Program. In retaliation, the Sicilian Mafia killed his mother, aunt, and sister.
Source: shelf3d.com
Henry Hill
The ultimate Goodfella, Henry Hill, a NYC mobster who had 25 years of history with the Lucchese crime family, assisted the FBI in making 50 convictions and put away mobsters like James Burke and Paul Vario. His story was turned into the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas and the books Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family, The Wise Guy Cookbook.
Source: Biography
Kobe Bryant
When interrogated about his 2004 Colorado rape allegations, Kobe sold his then teammate, the hulking Shaquille O'Neal, up the river and probably ruined Shaq's marriage in the process. Bryant stated that "he should have done what Shaq does and pay his women not to say anything." He stated Shaq has paid "up to a million dollars already." Way to throw the big guy under the bus.
Source: The Smoking Gun
Ronald Reagan
Before he was the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan lived out his days in Hollyweird, acting in films like Bedtime for Bonzo and Hellcats of the Navy. This is common knowledge. But did you know that as a budding politician in Hollywood's acting community after World War II, Reagan served as a confidential informant for the FBI, snitching about pro-Communist influences in the Screen Actors Guild and other Hollywood organizations? No wonder he's a conservative hero.
Source: Mercury News
Sammy Gravano
Sammy the Bull led a varied life in the New York mafia underground. He began his career as a wiseguy who moved up the mob ladder until he was a confidant of famed mob boss John Gotti. Along the way he spilled enough blood to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool.
Eventually, Gravano and several members of my family became disenchanted with Gotti's lust for the media and high profile antics, feeling they brought too much heat. He testified against Gotti and other high-ranking mobsters in exchange for a reduced sentence. Since Gravano had already served four years, his sentence amounted to less than one year.
Source: Biography
Walt Disney
There are almost as many myths and half truths about Walt Disney as there are people in line for Space Mountain on any given weekend: his frozen body is kept below Disney Land, he was a Nazi sympathizer (probably true), he was an FBI Informant, the list goes on.
According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, it seems that Walt Disney served as a secret FBI informant for 26 years and allowed J. Edgar Hoover access to movie and TV scripts so the agency director could suggest changes. Maybe that's why there's so much cross dressing in all those early Disney films.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
Peter Chiodo
Peter Chiodo was quite a guy. An Italian from Queens, in 1987 he became a "made man" and was put in charge of collecting payments from the Ironworkers union. In May 1991, Chiodo was attacked by two men and shot 12 times. He survived the attack (largely because he weighed 500 pounds), but decided to turn state’s evidence against the mafia in return for the safety of his family.
Source: NY Daily News
Ralph Natale
In 1995, the dashing Ralph Natale took control of the Philadelphia crime family after John Stanfa was sentenced to life in prison. Four years later, Natale was arrested on drug charges and became the first American mafia boss to turn state's evidence.
In 2005, Ralph Natale was given a sentence of 13 years, but escaped life in prison due to his testimony. He was released in May 2011 and entered the Witness Protection Program before suing the United States Government for depriving him of proper treatment in jail. He has alleged that the government let him “willfully sink into darkness," earning him the nickname, the "Vonnegut of the Mafia."
Source: Philly.com