{"product_id":"undercover-cop-how-i-brought-down-the-reallife-sopranos","title":"Undercover Cop: How I Brought Down the Real-Life Sopranos","description":"\u003cp\u003eOne moment  New Jersey state trooper Mike Russell was working undercover  playing the role of an up-and-coming mobster hoping to infiltrate a Mafia family crew. The next  he was lying facedown in an alley after being ambushed and shot in the back of the head by a mobster over a dispute.  Russell miraculously healed  and rather than press charges  he maintained his cover. Soon he had a stroke of good luck when he saved a man from an attack by two street thugs. The man he saved turned out to be Andy Gerardo  one of the ranking captains of the Genovese crime family. Quickly earning the trust of his new friend  Russell would orchestrate one of the biggest Mafia takedowns of all time.  Urged by his police handlers  Russell used his cover story---an ex-cop fired for excessive force who now made his living from an oil-delivery business---and street skills to assimilate into the Genovese crime family in New Jersey  ultimately leading to more than fifty arrests of mobsters  corrupt prison officials  and even a state senator. Straddling the thin line between collecting evidence and participating in the very crimes he was leaking to the cops  Russell consistently placed himself at riskespecially when his police handlers disregarded his wishes and his well-being  conducting premature raids on the gangsters. With his marriage suffering and his family in danger  Russell took extraordinary steps to ensure his financial security and safety  demanding better terms from the police and allowing a film crew to document the final moments of the epic bust for a documentary that was later sold to HBO.  A real-life version of The Sopranos  Undercover Cop immerses readers in the colorful yet harrowing trials of a standout cop who faced the mob on his own terms  crippled organized crime in New Jersey  and forever redefined undercover law enforcement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986281656373,"sku":"ByrdShop_1250005876","price":27.38,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781250005878.jpg?v=1770894374","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/undercover-cop-how-i-brought-down-the-reallife-sopranos","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}