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Joseph Dominick PistoneĀ (born September 17, 1939), also known by hisĀ undercoverĀ aliasĀ Donnie Brasco, is an American formerĀ FBIĀ agent who worked undercover between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into theĀ Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser extent theĀ Colombo crime family, two of theĀ Five FamiliesĀ of theĀ MafiaĀ inĀ New York City.
PistoneĀ was a pioneer in long-term undercover work, and the evidence he collected led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members.Ā Pistoneās work later helped convince the FBI that using undercover agents in lieu of relying exclusively onĀ informantsĀ was a crucial tool in law enforcement Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1988 bookĀ Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia, the basis of the 1997 film about his lifeĀ Donnie Brasco.