Ex-Mafia boss: ‘I’m asking for redemption’

A self-confessed former “underboss of the most powerful organised crime family in the country”[US] has been baptised.

Salvatore Gravano – widely known as “Sammy the Bull” Gravano – underwent water baptism, declaring he’s asking for forgiveness “not from a judge or jury, but from God.”

In a recent YouTube interview with US-based pastor Mark Francey, Gravano said: “I’m asking Jesus for redemption, and peace.” Gravano described having spent 22 years in prison, being in three Mafia wars and also being involved in 19 murders. “I was extremely loyal to Golden Astro, which is the Mafia,” he said.

According to Gravano, he “always believed in God”. He was invited to church while in California and accepted the invitation.

In the video, entitled I Gave My Life to Christ, Francey – whose church it was that Gravano attended – said he was excited: “The legacy of Sammy the Bull is someone that started in one life and ended in another life.”

In an interview that Gravano gave in 1997 he was asked: “You don’t worry about a final judgment?” In response, Gravano said: “I’ll worry about that, [on] that day, and we’ll see what happens.” But almost 30 years later, Gravano can be quoted as saying: “I’ve had, you know, punishment from judges and juries and stuff like that, but there’s nobody who could punish you like God.”