Henry Hill on 60 Minutes

The legendary New York mobster Henry Hill who turned government informant, and whose life was the basis for the classic movie Goodfellas, died Tuesday in California. He was 69.

Philadelphia Inquirer mob writer George Anastasia wrote:

 More than any other mob figure in the late 20th century, Hill changed both the perception and the reality of Mafia life in America. His story, first told in the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, laid bare the treachery and deceit that was at the core of the underworld.

Honor and loyalty, the virtues celebrated in popular fiction like The Godfather, were not part of the life that Hill and his associates lived. Hill began cooperating in 1980 and after testifying at a number of trials, disappeared into the Witness Security Program where he and his wife lived for nearly a decade in fear of mob retribution.

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By Allan Lengel

Henry Hill, the real life mobster turned FBI snitch who inspired the movie “Goodfellas”, is in trouble again.

Fairview Heights, Ill.  Police arrested Hill, 66, on Sunday at a hotel for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, the Associated Press reported.

The paper reports Hill was in the area for a showing of his art work.

Hill told the Belleville News-Democrat he had  “one too many” drinks in a hotel lobby and that things “got pretty foggy after that.”

Hill, who was played by actor Ray Liotta in the movie Goodfellas, is free on bond.

The FBI got Hill to snitch on the mob after busting him for drugs. He was booted from the witness protection program after getting busted on drugs in the 1990s.

Earlier this year, in California,  Hill was sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of public intoxication.

Actor Ray Liotta Played Hill in This Movie

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

Henry Hill, the New York mobster who inspired the Martin Scorcese film “Goodfellas”, has been sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of public intoxication, the Associated Press reported.

Hill, 65, a mobster turned informant, got credit for four days served and was fined $220 in the San Bernardino, Calif., earlier this week, the AP reported.

An arrest warrant was issued earlier this month after Hill failed to appear in court.

Hill was played by actor Ray Liotta in the 1990 film, which also featured standout performances by Robert Di Niro and Joe Pesci. Some lines in the movie became legendary (like in the video below).

By PAUL LAROCCO
The Press-Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. –“Henry Hill.”

San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge Kyle Brodie matter-of-factly read the name Wednesday in a roll call of small-time suspects: the unlicensed driver; the work-release probationer.

“No answer,” yelled the bailiff.

With that, the mobster-turned-FBI informant — whose life inspired the movie epic “Goodfellas” — was facing two $25,000 arrest warrants.

Once linked to an NCAA point-shaving scandal and a $5 million airport heist, Hill at age 65 is wanted for failing to appear on tickets alleging that he was drunk in public in San Bernardino.

“I would have been asking for his autograph,” said Desiree Gallegos, 27, who was in the courtroom for a suspension of house arrest terms.

Reached by phone later in the day, Hill said he was unaware he needed to be present. He said he had visited the downtown court on Monday to advise the clerks that he would be having hernia surgery later this week and wanted a new date.
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