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CNN Live Today

Interview With Mafia Wife Lynda Milito

Aired June 05, 2003 - 10:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Wedding vows typically contain promises of love and honor. But for Lynda Milito, fear was also a cornerstone of her 22-year marriage. She says her husband, Louie, was a Mafia captain. She, a Mafia wife, and now she's an author, telling it all in her new book describing what she calls a story of love, murder, and madness.
Lynda joins us now from our New York bureau. Lynda Milito, thank you very much for coming out and talking with us this morning. Let me ask you, first off, how big a risk are you taking in coming out and telling this story right now in a book?

LYNDA MILITO, AUTHOR, "MAFIA WIFE": I feel no risk. I'm telling the truth, I'm there to speak the truth, and there is no risk. All the men that my husband knew are either dead or in jail.

HARRIS: So you don't fear for your life in coming out and telling these stories?

MILITO: Absolutely not.

HARRIS: So, are you naming names, then?

MILITO: Well, to be very honest with you, some of the names are changed, and some of the names are right.

HARRIS: So you do have some fear still if you're changing names?

MILITO: No, I guess that would be because for libel reasons, but I have no fear.

HARRIS: All right. Well, let's talk about your life and about your husband, Louie. Was Louie in the mob when you married him, or is that something that happened after you married him?

MILITO: He was not in the mob when I married him. He went into the mob for the love of his mother. He did a favor for his brother, and he wound up owing a favor.

HARRIS: And so when he did it, what happened with your relationship?

MILITO: Well, honestly, I didn't know anything about it. Back then, the Mafia was just the Mafia. We just didn't -- I mean, we didn't even pay attention to that word. When my children would ask me, Ma, what is the Mafia? I would say, It's nothing. I don't know what it is. It's a made-up word. HARRIS: So, was your husband a murderer? Did your husband actually kill people?

MILITO: My husband was a made man, which -- yes, he certainly did.

HARRIS: Did he talk to you about these sort of things?

MILITO: Not the murders. I would have to put two and two together by finding out through telephone conversations and hearing it. But I only made -- I only realized this maybe about two or three years before he was murdered.

HARRIS: Yes, and two of people that you do mention that your husband -- that he worked with or for, was John Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano. He worked with them, or for them?

MILITO: No, he worked with them. Louie never worked for anybody.

HARRIS: And from what I understand, you're not very complementary of Sammy in this book.

MILITO: Not at all. Sammy's a liar. But I don't -- he's proving it with his background and being in and out of prison, putting his two children in jeopardy, his wife in jeopardy, and just -- he's a real terrible person, which I knew from the very, very beginning.

HARRIS: Well, it's easier to say that now that he's in jail. I guess he is going to be locked up for some 19 years or so now.

MILITO: Right.

HARRIS: A lot of people who have been watching "The Sopranos" on HBO, turned that into a blockbuster, I want to know from you directly how realistic is the life that's portrayed in that series? Is that what your life was like?

MILITO: It's almost a carbon copy of my life. The only thing is I was treated a little differently. I was treated like -- harder, stronger. I never saw Tony Soprano hit Carmella. So I was treated a little bit harder. Maybe it was because of his ways. I don't know. But it's a carbon copy.

HARRIS: Now, you also say, though, that the mob life is not necessarily, at least the current mob life is not about honor and some of these pacts that are mythologized about the mob. You say it's all about money now?

MILITO: Well, now it is. Years ago, there was respect and honor. When there was Castellano and Gambino and Neal Delagrosh (ph) and all those older gentlemen, that was the older regime that Louie -- Louie followed that regime. He did not follow Sammy's regime.

HARRIS: And by following that, he provided you a pretty good lifestyle. How concerned are you that your family members, like your son, may actually follow that lifestyle as well?

MILITO: Absolutely not. No, my son will not. No. Sorry.

HARRIS: All right. Well, I am glad you are that confident about that.

MILITO: I'm a pretty tough mother.

HARRIS: You sound like one, I can tell you that.

MILITO: I am.

HARRIS: Lynda Milito, thank you very much for coming out and sharing your story.

MILITO: No, thank you for having me.

HARRIS: There's the book there "Mafia Wife: My Story of Love, Murder, and Madness."

MILITO: It's a great book. It is a great book.

HARRIS: Thank you very much. Good luck to you. Take care.

MILITO: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired June 5, 2003 - 10:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Wedding vows typically contain promises of love and honor. But for Lynda Milito, fear was also a cornerstone of her 22-year marriage. She says her husband, Louie, was a Mafia captain. She, a Mafia wife, and now she's an author, telling it all in her new book describing what she calls a story of love, murder, and madness.
Lynda joins us now from our New York bureau. Lynda Milito, thank you very much for coming out and talking with us this morning. Let me ask you, first off, how big a risk are you taking in coming out and telling this story right now in a book?

LYNDA MILITO, AUTHOR, "MAFIA WIFE": I feel no risk. I'm telling the truth, I'm there to speak the truth, and there is no risk. All the men that my husband knew are either dead or in jail.

HARRIS: So you don't fear for your life in coming out and telling these stories?

MILITO: Absolutely not.

HARRIS: So, are you naming names, then?

MILITO: Well, to be very honest with you, some of the names are changed, and some of the names are right.

HARRIS: So you do have some fear still if you're changing names?

MILITO: No, I guess that would be because for libel reasons, but I have no fear.

HARRIS: All right. Well, let's talk about your life and about your husband, Louie. Was Louie in the mob when you married him, or is that something that happened after you married him?

MILITO: He was not in the mob when I married him. He went into the mob for the love of his mother. He did a favor for his brother, and he wound up owing a favor.

HARRIS: And so when he did it, what happened with your relationship?

MILITO: Well, honestly, I didn't know anything about it. Back then, the Mafia was just the Mafia. We just didn't -- I mean, we didn't even pay attention to that word. When my children would ask me, Ma, what is the Mafia? I would say, It's nothing. I don't know what it is. It's a made-up word. HARRIS: So, was your husband a murderer? Did your husband actually kill people?

MILITO: My husband was a made man, which -- yes, he certainly did.

HARRIS: Did he talk to you about these sort of things?

MILITO: Not the murders. I would have to put two and two together by finding out through telephone conversations and hearing it. But I only made -- I only realized this maybe about two or three years before he was murdered.

HARRIS: Yes, and two of people that you do mention that your husband -- that he worked with or for, was John Gotti and Sammy the Bull Gravano. He worked with them, or for them?

MILITO: No, he worked with them. Louie never worked for anybody.

HARRIS: And from what I understand, you're not very complementary of Sammy in this book.

MILITO: Not at all. Sammy's a liar. But I don't -- he's proving it with his background and being in and out of prison, putting his two children in jeopardy, his wife in jeopardy, and just -- he's a real terrible person, which I knew from the very, very beginning.

HARRIS: Well, it's easier to say that now that he's in jail. I guess he is going to be locked up for some 19 years or so now.

MILITO: Right.

HARRIS: A lot of people who have been watching "The Sopranos" on HBO, turned that into a blockbuster, I want to know from you directly how realistic is the life that's portrayed in that series? Is that what your life was like?

MILITO: It's almost a carbon copy of my life. The only thing is I was treated a little differently. I was treated like -- harder, stronger. I never saw Tony Soprano hit Carmella. So I was treated a little bit harder. Maybe it was because of his ways. I don't know. But it's a carbon copy.

HARRIS: Now, you also say, though, that the mob life is not necessarily, at least the current mob life is not about honor and some of these pacts that are mythologized about the mob. You say it's all about money now?

MILITO: Well, now it is. Years ago, there was respect and honor. When there was Castellano and Gambino and Neal Delagrosh (ph) and all those older gentlemen, that was the older regime that Louie -- Louie followed that regime. He did not follow Sammy's regime.

HARRIS: And by following that, he provided you a pretty good lifestyle. How concerned are you that your family members, like your son, may actually follow that lifestyle as well?

MILITO: Absolutely not. No, my son will not. No. Sorry.

HARRIS: All right. Well, I am glad you are that confident about that.

MILITO: I'm a pretty tough mother.

HARRIS: You sound like one, I can tell you that.

MILITO: I am.

HARRIS: Lynda Milito, thank you very much for coming out and sharing your story.

MILITO: No, thank you for having me.

HARRIS: There's the book there "Mafia Wife: My Story of Love, Murder, and Madness."

MILITO: It's a great book. It is a great book.

HARRIS: Thank you very much. Good luck to you. Take care.

MILITO: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com