Joseph D. Pistone

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/joseph-d--pistone

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How long is Joseph D. Pistone?17 years (1969-1986)
2. What is the undercover alias?Donnie Brasco
3. What is the undercover duration?September 1976 - July 1981 (approximately 5 years)
4. Who was Joseph D. Pistone and what did he do?Joseph D. Pistone was an FBI agent who pretended to be a mobster named Donnie Brasco. He worked undercover to learn how the Mafia operated from inside.
5. Why was Pistone’s undercover work important for the FBI?It proved that deep‑cover agents could gather powerful evidence from within the Mafia. The FBI then began using similar long‑term undercover tactics.

Organized Crime: Criminal activities conducted by structured groups, often involving illegal enterprises and violence.
Deep-Cover Operation: An extended undercover assignment where an agent fully integrates into a criminal organization to gather intelligence.
Paradigm Shift: A fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions, as seen in the FBI's view on undercover work.
Informant: A person who provides information about illegal activities to law enforcement, often for payment or leniency.