FBI on ''The Sopranos''
A major plotline on the fictional HBO drama The Sopranos was the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's ongoing pursuit of the DiMeo (New Jersey) and Lupertazzi (Brooklyn) crime families. The Bureau's investigations met with varying degrees of success.[1] This article lists both characters who acted as F.B.I. informants and F.B.I. agent characters and as such is an expansion of the main article List of The Sopranos characters.
F.B.I. informants
Being an F.B.I. informant on The Sopranos is a risky proposition, often ending in death. Lupertazzi crime family consigliere, James Petrille, and Soprano family capo, Carlo Gervasi, are the only known F.B.I. informants to survive until the series' end. Raymond Curto deserves notice for being a longtime informer before dying of natural causes without ever being suspected. Listed below are characters who are known to have been F.B.I. informants and their respective fates. Note that Albie Cianflone was likely an informant, but he should not be included on the list because his cooperation (if any) is debatable, unconfirmed and unknown.
Informant | Position | Status | Cause |
---|---|---|---|
Fabian "Febby" Petrulio aka Fred Peters | Former soldier, turned State's Witness, kicked out of witness protection | Deceased | Executed by Tony Soprano in the first season episode "College". |
Jimmy Altieri | Capo, Soprano family | Deceased | Executed by Silvio Dante in the first season episode "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano". |
Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero | Soldier, Soprano family | Deceased | Executed by Tony Soprano, Silvio Dante, and Paulie Gualtieri in the second season episode, "Funhouse". |
Adriana La Cerva | Fiancée of Christopher Moltisanti and Crazy Horse club manager in Long Branch, New Jersey | Deceased | Executed by Silvio Dante in the fifth season episode, "Long Term Parking". |
Raymond Curto | Capo, Soprano family | Deceased | Died as a result of a stroke in the sixth season episode, "Members Only". |
Jack Massarone | Business associate, Massarone Construction Corp. founder and CEO, | Deceased | Executed on orders from Tony Soprano in the fifth season episode, "Rat Pack". |
Jimmy Petrille | Consigliere, Lupertazzi family | Unknown, presumably Petrille has since entered the Witness Protection Program (although this has not been mentioned). | N/A |
Eugene Pontecorvo | Soldier, Soprano family, no-show carpenter | Deceased | Committed suicide by hanging in the sixth season episode, "Members Only". The amount of information that he contributed, if any, is highly questionable. |
Carlo Gervasi | Capo, Soprano family, | Unknown. Turned informant on the series finale "Made in America". His future and the ramifications of his testimony against Tony are unknown. | Became informant due to son, wannabe mobster Jason being arrested for drug dealing. |
FBI agents
Chief Frank Cubitoso
- Played by: Frank Pellegrino
- Appears in: "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano", "The Knight in White Satin Armor", "Funhouse", "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood", "Another Toothpick", "...To Save Us All From Satan's Power", "Army of One", "No Show", "Watching Too Much Television", "Rat Pack", "Irregular Around the Margins", "Long Term Parking"
FBI chief of New Jersey division who is constantly looking for new insight on the ongoing Soprano/DiMeo case. He successfully coordinates a mission to put the Soprano residence under surveillance by the use of an old lamp in their basement. The operation ends when Meadow takes the old lamp to college. When Tony is arrested for the stolen airline tickets he tells Frank to "not expect any more deli trays coming your way", alluding to a deli tray sent to Cubitoso on his birthday, which Cubitoso donated to a local charity. He also pressures Adriana La Cerva into wearing a wire, which leads to her confession and eventual death. When Agent Sanseverino worries after Adriana disappears, Cubitoso decides it is time to move on. He was also the agent whose idea it was to bug Green Grove Retirement Community when Tony Soprano and several other DiMeo family capos move in their mothers, despite other agents' skepticism.
Agent Ron Goddard
- Played by: Michael Kelly
- Appears in: "Members Only", "Join the Club", "Stage 5", "Walk Like a Man", "The Second Coming", "Made in America"
Agent Harris' new partner in the Joint Terrorism Task Force and was stationed in Pakistan. Along with Harris, he approached Tony at his home, requesting that Tony inform them should he come across any terror-related information in his line of work. When asked by Tony about how the war on terrorism goes, Ron mentions that he didn't mind working on the task force other than not sleeping and that he missed his wife and children. Harris would often bring Goddard to Satriale's to ostensibly show him that the store makes the best pulled pork sandwiches in the state.
Agent Ron Gosling
- Played by: Matt Pepper
- Appears in: "Members Only"
An agent who handled Eugene Pontecervo before his suicide. He hints to Eugene about Ray Curto being an informant.
Agent Frank Grasso
- Played by: Frank Pando
- Appears in: "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti", "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano", "D-Girl", "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood", "Proshai, Livushka", "Army of One", "Whoever Did This", "Whitecaps", "Rat Pack", "Irregular Around the Margins", "All Due Respect"
An FBI agent who handled mob capo Raymond Curto. During a raid on the Soprano residence, Grasso broke a bowl from the kitchen refrigerator. Immediately after, he and Tony developed a grudge when Tony noted his last name and insulted him in Italian. He is an homage to famous New York City Detective Sonny Grosso who helped reveal the French Connection. Tony says that Grasso is a valentine with his name as that if he wasn't for his last name they'd have him sweeping up at the office, and implies that the other FBI agents probably search him before he leaves work to go home every day. Tony thinks that Grasso is arresting "his own people", fellow Italians to get promoted.
Agent Dwight Harris
Agent Skip Lipari
- Played by: Louis Lombardi
- Appears in: "Do Not Resuscitate", "Commendatori", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "D-Girl", "From Where to Eternity", "Bust Out", "The Knight in White Satin Armor", "Funhouse", "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood"
An FBI agent who handled Big Pussy Bonpensiero. When Pussy begins to confide more and more to Skip as a friend, Skip tries to tell him that he is not his friend and he is there to help the federal government. Chief Cubitoso warns Lipari that he could be risking getting too close to Bonpensiero himself. Lipari may have suspected that Bonpensiero was involved in the Matthew Bevilaqua murder, but apparently did not report it. Skip says that his father was a plumber.
Agent Joe Marquez
- Played by: Gary Perez
- Appears in: "House Arrest", "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood"
Agent Harris' partner from 2000 to 2001 while working on the DiMeo crime family investigation. Tony makes fun of his Hispanic heritage by asking him "Weren't there any jobs down at the Post Office?" He is a fan of the New York Mets along with Dwight Harris and Tony.
Agent Robyn Sanseverino
- Played by: Karen Young
- Appears in: "Pie-O-My", "Watching Too Much Television", "The Strong, Silent Type", "Whitecaps", "Rat Pack", "Where's Johnny?", "Irregular Around the Margins", "Unidentified Black Males", "Cold Cuts", "Long Term Parking", "Members Only"
An FBI agent who handled Adriana La Cerva after she became very resentful against Agent Ciccerone. Agent Sanseverino explains to Adriana that she became an FBI agent because her sister was paralyzed by her boyfriend's reckless use of a gun. In order to take a stand against men like him, she became an agent. She has a daughter which was unknown to Adriana. She also handled capo Raymond Curto just before his death from natural causes. Adriana blames her ulcerative colitis on the pressure being placed on her by Robyn and the FBI. She confides to Robyn that when Chris was in drug rehab Vito Spatafore kept calling her asking if she needed anything and was okay, and she didn't tell Chris because he would kill him. She put Adriana on a mailing list for brochures from a drug rehabilitation clinic in Hazelton, New Jersey that gets Christopher mad at Adriana. She hints to Adriana that Richie Aprile and Pussy Bonpensiero are not in the Witness Protection Program, despite what Tony Soprano and the others say.
Agent Smyj
- Played by: Brian Smyj
- Appears in: "Proshai, Livushka", "Army of One" "Whoever Did This"
Played by Brian Smyj, a Hollywood stuntman and stunt coordinator, he is sometimes present at meetings about the Soprano/DiMeo crime family investigation. Agent Smyj's first name is never mentioned. His last name is pronounced Smy.
Agent Deborah Ciccerone-Waldrup
- Played by: Lola Glaudini, Fairuza Balk (1 episode, scenes replaced)
- Appears in: "Army of One", "For All Debts Public and Private", "No Show", "Christopher", "Pie-O-My", "Watching Too Much Television", "Rat Pack", "Irregular Around the Margins"
Deborah is a special agent who went undercover as "Danielle Ciccolella from Whippany, New Jersey" to befriend Adriana and to find out information about Christopher Moltisanti's relationship with Tony Soprano. She is married to FBI Special Agent Mike Waldrup and has a child with him. She poses as a wealthy, potential trophy-wife, girlfriend or mistress interested in the gangster world. She wore a wire and recorded conversations with Adriana, some of which she once said were very private. Her usefulness as an undercover agent ended after Christopher made a pass at her causing Adriana to break off their friendship after Christopher lied and said Danielle initiated it. However, she continued to work on the Soprano task force. She told Adriana that she had a sister and offered to get her an appointment with an obstetrician/gynecologist specializing in reproductive endocrinology and infertility, as her sister worked in the New York City with one. Paulie Germani reportedly was interested in Danielle. Christopher thinks that Danielle is a lesbian because she turned down his advances. She was wearing a wire on some occasions when socializing with Adriana. She meets Adriana at a bakery in East Hanover Township, New Jersey after her Danielle identity is dropped. Tony once asked Adriana about her friend Danielle, as he was attracted to her, she awkwardly tells Tony that she drowned while on a picnic, hence her disappearance. In the episode "Long Term Parking," Adrianna finally tells Christopher about Deborah's true identity, after revealing her own involvement with the FBI to him.
Agent Mike Waldrup
- Played by: Will Arnett
- Appears in: "For All Debts Public and Private" and "No Show"
Husband and fellow FBI agent of Deborah Ciccerone-Waldrup. He does not like his wife's dog. Takes care of their baby when Deborah talks to Adriana on a special phone line hooked up in their bedroom to act as the phone for "Lilac Personal Shopping". He worries about their baby being colicky from it coughing so much while lying in its crib.
FBI Technician
- Played by: Gary Evans
- Appears in: "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood", "Proshai, Livushka", "Employee of the Month", "Another Toothpick"
Instrumental in placing a listening device in Tony Soprano's basement hidden inside a lamp. Later involved in monitoring this device until it was unwittingly neutralized by Meadow Soprano as she removed it from the house and took it to her dorm room at Columbia University. Throughout the show he usually dons disguises as a plumber, air conditioning repair man, Department of Environmental Protection Water Supply and Geoscience Employee, or gardener. He seems to have a knowledge of heating, refrigeration and air conditioning systems. He is the member of the team that informs the FBI that the Soprano home's 120-gallon water heater is on the verge of exploding and flooding the basement during their surveillance of the house. The FBI declines to inform Tony of their observation. In the episode "Mr. Ruggiero's Neighborhood," his predictions are correct and the tank does explode causing serious damage to the basement.
See also
- List of The Sopranos characters
- List of characters from The Sopranos in the Soprano crime family
- List of characters from The Sopranos in the Lupertazzi crime family
- List of characters from The Sopranos – friends and family
References
- ↑ Douglas Howard, "Tasting Brylcreem: Law, Disorder and the FBI in The Sopranos", Reading the Sopranos