Steve Bannon helped a mafia hitman secure an early release from prison because he was such a devoted fan of President Donald Trump, according to a book.
Vito Guzzo, a member of the Colombo crime family, was sentenced to 38 years in prison in 1998 after pleading guilty to murdering five people, as well as committing other offenses, including arson, racketeering, and attempted murder.
He was released in April after 26 years having formed a friendship with his cellmate, Bannon, who was serving four months in jail for contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena.
According to an excerpt from Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America by ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, published by The Atlantic, the War Room host said he and Guzzo became close because the mafia hitman was “the single biggest Trump fan you’ve ever seen,” adding that he “could literally quote” Trump’s speeches.
Bannon helped Guzzo secure an early release under the First Step Act, a bipartisan law signed by Trump in 2018 that reformed sentencing for certain federal offenses and allowed inmates to reduce their sentences through “good time” or “earned time” credits.
Guzzo had already served most of his sentence in higher-security federal prisons before joining Bannon at the lower-security Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, due to good behavior, ABC News reported.
According to Karl’s book, Bannon, the White House chief strategist during Trump’s first term, was later sent a video of Guzzo being greeted by his girlfriend upon his release. After three decades behind bars, Bannon was impressed by his new friend’s “totally precise” appearance.
“That guy is so impressive,” Bannon told Karl. “Look at that guy’s tracksuit; look at the shoes; look at the hair.”
The book also notes that Bannon had clashed with Trump and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, then a White House adviser, over the First Step Act, believing it represented a too-soft-on-crime approach.
However, Bannon’s own stint in prison changed his perspective on the legislation.
“Jared was a genius about this. It is our ticket to a massive coalition,” Bannon said, according to the book. “Remember, in Spartacus, the slave revolt starts in a prison, right?”
Bannon himself was released from prison last October, just days before Trump won the 2024 election.
The Daily Beast has contacted Bannon for further comment.
