Ex Mob Boss Gets Out of Prison Years Early

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, a notorious Mafia hit man who ended up ratting out his fellow mobsters in exchange for a plea deal, is done with his second stint in prison years early. Per court records, Gravano, 72, was released in Arizona Sept. 18, the New York Post reports. He'll be on federal parole the rest of his life. Gravano was an underboss and consigliere with the Gambino crime family when he turned rat in 1991—at the time, the highest-ranking mafia member to become a turncoat—helping authorities nab John Gotti and 38 other mobsters. In exchange, he was sentenced to his first stay in prison, just five years for 19 murders.

After that stint in prison and another in witness protection, he settled in Arizona (where he was living when Gotti's brother ordered a hit on him), but he was sentenced to another 20 years behind bars when he pleaded guilty to running an ecstasy ring in 2001 after being arrested the year prior. He was sentenced in 2002, AZFamily.com reports. The New York Daily News says his early release is a result of good behavior. "I spoke to him," his daughter Karen (a cast member on Mob Wives) tells the Post. "He is happy to be out after spending the last 17½ years in prison. He’s in good health, great spirits and he’s anxious to move forward with the next phase of his life." (More Mafia stories.)