How an FBI agent infiltrated the Gambino crime family

Joaquin "Jack" Garcia is a retired FBI agent who spent 24 of his 26 years undercover, including three years infiltrating the Gambino crime family under the alias "Jack Falcone." He described an unconventional entry into the FBI and early challenges tied to his weight and Cuban background.

Garcia attended a "mob school" to learn the mannerisms and foods of New York's Italian mafia. He developed a close relationship with Gambino captain Greg DePalma; key events, including a violent assault in a Bloomingdale's, helped produce the indictment of 32 mobsters.

At one point he was proposed for membership in the family before the FBI prematurely ended the investigation. He also contrasted the romanticized image of the Italian mob with the greater brutality he saw in drug cartels. His other major cases included probes into police corruption in Hollywood, Florida, and Boston.

United States, New York; Hollywood, Florida; Boston

joaquin garcia, jack falcone, gambino family, greg depalma, fbi, undercover agent, mob school, bloomingdales assault, police corruption, drug cartels