Roger Stone Trial: The Pentangeli Godfather Text and Clip Might Make Prosecutor Kravis Look ‘Ridiculous’

It was all over the news last week.

Prosecutors for the US Department of Justice asked permission to show a video clip from the 1974 film, “The Godfather Part II”, at Roger Stone’s upcoming trial.

The judge has not ruled on the request.

Stone is charged with witness tampering, obstruction of an official proceeding and making false statements during his testimony before a House Committee investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Stone is not accused of collaborating with the Russians.  His indictment stems from the Robert Mueller investigation.

Prosecutors allege Stone referred to a character in the Godfather while texting comedian and radio host, Randy Credico, who was subpoenaed to testify before the House Committee on Russian interference.

“Start practicing your Pentangeli,” Stone texted Credico in late 2017.

The Stone indictment reads, “Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both STONE and [Credico] had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know.”

In the clip, Pentangeli is testifying before a Senate committee about the Godfather, Michael Corleone, when Corleone surprises him by bringing Pentangeli,s brother, Vincenzo, to the hearing. Frank realizes he is putting his family at risk and suddenly testifies he doesn’t know anything about Corelone’s crimes.

“I never know no Godfather. I have my own family, Senator,” actor Michael Gazzo, as Pentangeli, says in Godfather II.

What prosecutors in the Stone case may not know, or at least they may not care to mention to the jury, is that Credico is an impressionist.

He broke into comedy when he appeared on the Johnny Carson show decades ago. He does a raft of impressions from Bill Clinton, to Ronald Reagan, Al Sharpton, even Diogenes.

Credico also does Frank Pentangeli. He has done that scene in the Godfather for years and it is comedy gold.

In fact, he does a whole Godfather comedy routine changing names around to suit his audience.

Randy Credico does a great impression of Frank Pentangeli

A zealous prosecutor, Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Kravis will undoubtedly make a point of how serious and intimidating Stone was when he texted Credico saying, “Start practicing your Pentangeli.”

But it will likely come out in the trial that Credico never really took the character of Frank Pentangeli too seriously in his life.

Perhaps Stone’s lawyers will show the jury a clip of Credico’s impersonation of Pentangeli,, or ask Credico how many times he has “done Pentangali” in his long career.

Maybe Stone’s defense attorneys might even ask Credico to do his imitation of Pentangeli, before the jury.

I can see it now.

Credico mugging, “Look, the FBI guys, they promised me a deal. So, so I made up a lot of stuff about Roger Stone ’cause that’s what they wanted. But it was all lies. Uh, everything.  And I kept saying Roger Stone did this and Roger Stone did that. So, I said yeah sure – why not?”

Credico might give the jury a good laugh and during serious trials, that’s usually good for the defense.

Yet, some jurors might think prosecutor Kravis was a little dishonest if he fails to mention that Credico does such a fine Pentangeli in his comic routine.

They might even think it makes Kravis look a little ridiculous.

And, as we all know, a man in prosecutor Kravis’s position can’t afford to be made to look ridiculous.

The trial is scheduled to begin on November 5.

Image result for godfather look ridiculous
As he increasingly realizes that he might lose the trial against Roger Stone, a desperate prosecutor has asked the judge to bring in the Godfather movie as evidence to prove witness tampering.

About the author

George Frobisher

18 Comments

Click here to post a comment

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us! (Email & username are optional. To leave a name, click on the email icon)

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” Parlato was also credited in the Starz docuseries "Seduced" for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Additionally, Parlato’s coverage of the group OneTaste, starting in 2018, helped spark an FBI investigation, which led to indictments of two of its leaders in 2023.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premiered on May 22, 2022. Most recently, he consulted and appeared on Tubi's "Branded and Brainwashed: Inside NXIVM," which aired January, 2023.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankparlato@gmail.com

Archives