From Big Pussy to Jimmy Petrille, the storylines following The Sopranos‘ informants and rats made for some of the most intense drama in the series. Even by gangster saga standards, The Sopranos reveled in being a show that treated the bad guys as its heroes. This then meant that the informants, the people who helped the FBI and did the right thing, came across as villains for all intents and purposes.
When it came to the Sopranos’ rats, almost none of them were good enough to help the FBI bring Tony Soprano and his crime family down. Up until The Sopranos‘ powerful final shot, the show largely allowed Tony to live and move on with his life, and though Tony’s finale fate remains a mystery, even theories that he died don’t attribute responsibility to the feds who failed to apprehend him over six seasons.
This means that all the show’s rats put themselves at great risk to double-cross Tony and his operation for, ultimately, no satisfactory reason. Not all of them did so for selfless reasons, but whether their stories were heartbreaking, gruesome, stressful, or a combination of the three, these Sopranos informants played a memorable role in Tony’s saga.
10
Febby Petrulio
Played By Tony Ray Rossi
It’s rare for a character with so little screen time to become so memorable on a show like The Sopranos. Though he only appeared in the series for a combined total of 15 minutes, Febby is remembered as the turncoat whom Tony Soprano strangled to death in the television-changing episode “College.” Tony spotted him at a gas station while he was out looking for colleges with his daughter Meadow.
Febby turned over evidence on the DiMeo family to the FBI, which led to convictions. The former mobster was the worst FBI informant on the series because he had a good thing going in the witness protection program but ruined it. He got himself expelled from the program, possibly for dealing drugs, which put him out in the open, which is where Tony managed to kill him.
9
“Black” Jack Massarone
Played By Robert Desiderio
Tony played Jack Massarone easily. The mob boss orchestrated a protest at Jack’s construction company, forcing him to seek the DiMeo family’s help in stopping it. Tony promised to stop the protests if he got a cut of the business. Jack became disgruntled, began snitching, and met with Tony in a baseball cap with a concealed wire. However, he wasn’t confident enough, and Tony spotted him as an informant.
The fact that Tony caught onto him so quickly meant that he never got the chance to hurt the Soprano crime family.
Tony ultimately ordered a hit, and Massarone’s body was found in the trunk of a car with a message specifically for the FBI. He played a very small role in The Sopranos, and the fact that Tony caught onto him so quickly meant that he never got the chance to do anything to hurt the Soprano crime family.
8
Eugene Pontecorvo
Played By Robert Funaro
Eugene’s career as a made man was decent until his dead aunt’s will named him heir to her fortune, at which point his wife saw no need for him to remain in the mafia. She began pressuring him to quit, wanting to move to Miami and live a peaceful life. However, Tony denied his request, and it soon emerged that Eugene was working with the FBI too.
However, it is not clear when he became an informant, and it seemed to come from out of nowhere. The show never revealed anything concerning his success as an informant, and the feds, in fact, prevented him from moving to Miami before he helped them bring Tony down. Eugene ended up being both a poor informant and a poor member of Tony’s family. Instead of continuing on, he took his own life.
7
Jimmy Altieri
Played By Joe Badalucco
Capo Jimmy Altieri’s short stint as a Sopranos’ informant mostly stemmed from the fact that none of his seniors liked him. When a corrupt FBI agent told Tony that Big Pussy was snitching, Tony thought the agent confused Sal with Jimmy, since the two had similar body shapes. It didn’t help that Jimmy asked too many questions, making Tony suspicious.
Anything he did for the FBI remains a mystery.
That FBI agent died without Tony confirming who he meant, so Soprano concluded Jimmy was the informant and not Sal. It turned out that both of them were working with the FBI. Silvio and Christopher eventually killed Jimmy, but he never did anything that seemed important other than being a red herring for Salvatore. Anything he did for the FBI remains a mystery.
6
Salvatore Bonpensiero
Played By Vincent Pastore
It was years before anyone fully realized Big Pussy’s cooperation with the FBI. It would have remained this way, had an intense fever dream not confirmed Tony’s suspicions. Sal initially did a good job of covering his tracks, even killing a fellow mobster who spotted him talking to his handler. When he would disappear, he lied that he had gone to a foreign country to seek treatment for his back pain.
There’s no telling how much information he gave the feds over the years, but the way things ended showed he wasn’t as smooth as he thought.
When faced with life in prison, Sal chose instead to inform on the Soprano crew. This was a shock for fans, as Sal had been one of the show’s most popular characters. In time, he began to enjoy his secret job a bit too much, pursuing suspects like a cop, until he was caught and killed. There’s no telling how much information he gave the feds over the years, but ultimately, he wasn’t as smooth as he thought.
5
Adriana La Cerva
Played By Drea De Matteo
Adriana didn’t deserve what happened to her. The FBI tried hard to get her to cooperate but failed. First, the bureau used a female agent to befriend her, but this failed when Christopher hit on the agent, causing the friendship to crumble. The FBI then brought Adriana in to make her cooperate by force, but she avoided giving the agents any meaningful information.
She never did anything to hurt the family, but there had been so many informants that they couldn’t take any chances.
When threatened with a prison sentence for covering up a murder, she still refused to cooperate. Adriana instead told Christopher, but when he caught a glimpse of the average life that awaited him outside the mob, he told Tony, who had her whacked. Adriana never betrayed the family, but she was murdered anyway. Hers was easily one of the most tragic and well-told stories of the entire show.
4
Larry ‘Lorenzo’ Barese
Played Tony Darrow
Lorenzo Barese was often portrayed as a reserved and humorous member of the DiMeo crime family, making it a surprise when he was later revealed to be an informant. After being arrested for numerous parole violations, the head of the Barese crew helped the FBI locate the body of a victim Tony killed over 25 years ago, giving the Jersey boss a headache he didn’t need on his plate.
Unlike many informants, Barese lived, although he was still awaiting trial at the end of the series.
Because he was able to deliver information and survive, he was more successful than most informants. There are only a few people who turned on Tony who made it out alive, so the fact that Barese turned over any amount of evidence and still made it to the end of the series spoke wonders to his work as a rat. Tony Darrow, who played Barese, was a real-life member of the Gambino crime family (via Reuters).
3
Carlo Gervasi
Played By Arthur J. Nascarella
It’s impossible to like the homophobic Carlo Gervasi. He exposed Vito’s sexuality, causing the mobster to flee to avoid getting killed. Beyond that, he wasn’t good at his job despite being given plenty of responsibility, as Tony complained that Carlo was a poor earner. Carlo’s case was an unfortunate one because he stayed loyal for so long only to turn against his colleagues in the series finale.
Carlo decided to cooperate with the FBI in order to cut a deal for his son, who was picked up on drug-related charges. It was one of those cases where viewers could somewhat understand where he was coming from in agreeing to the deal, even if they didn’t like it. Despite his unlikable traits, Carlo never got himself killed, making him one of the most successful of the Sopranos informants.
2
Jimmy Petrille
Played By Vinny Vella
In the Season 5 finale, it emerged that the consigliere had been an informant since 1981. Since events in the episode took place in 2004, Petrille’s status as a rat stretched across 23 years. His cooperation allowed the FBI to go after Lupertazzi underboss Johnny Sack. Tony then learned that Petrille was the snitch, but that he never gave up any information on the DiMeo family.
Petrille wasn’t killed for ratting either, but it was alleged that he went into the witness protection program after the major bust. It seems surprising that there were so many rats within the Soprano crime family, but Jimmy was another surprise revelation. The fact that he did this for over two decades and never got caught until he was able to go into hiding showed his incredible success as an informant.
1
Raymond ‘Buffalo Ray’ Curto
Played By George Loros
Ray was the best informant because his snitching activities were never discovered by his fellow mobsters. His secret died with him when he had a stroke in an FBI agent’s car. Given his age and numerous appearances, it’s possible he managed to give the FBI plenty of incriminating information.
His motivations for ratting were never revealed, though it was suggested that it had to do with his son’s expensive medical treatment. Ray had to be on the outside so that he could keep earning and paying for his son’s medication. Ray was one of the very few The Sopranos‘ informants who made it out of the show without anyone knowing what he did.
- Release Date
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1999 – 2007-00-00
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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David Chase
- Directors
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Tim Van Patten, John Patterson, Alan Taylor, Jack Bender, Steve Buscemi, Daniel Attias, David Chase, Andy Wolk, Danny Leiner, David Nutter, James Hayman, Lee Tamahori, Lorraine Senna, Matthew Penn, Mike Figgis, Nick Gomez, Peter Bogdanovich, Phil Abraham, Rodrigo García
- Writers
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Michael Imperioli, Jason Cahill, Lawrence Konner, David Flebotte, James Manos, Jr., Salvatore Stabile, Toni Kalem, Mark Saraceni, Nick Santora
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James Gandolfini
Tony Soprano
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