Cristian believes his friend is unfairly maligned because of Griselda's vicious criminal history.
"It's quite the Catch-22," Cristian says. "He loves his mother and he is very proud of her being his mom. But don't judge the kid based on his mother's past."
Jorge "Rivi" Ayala, a former hit man who turned witness against Griselda Blanco
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Michael was dressed in a black two-piece suit with a black shirt and shiny black loafers. A pair of black sunglasses topped off the mafioso attire he donned for the January 23, 2008 premiere of Cocaine Cowboys 2: Hustlin' With the Godmother at the Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Cristian, similarly dressed, was by Michael's side. Griselda's scion joined the film's director, Billy Corben, and the star, Charles Cosby, on the red carpet to pose for photos.
Following the first Cocaine Cowboys, fans of the movie wanted to know more about Griselda. Corben and filmmaking partner Alfred Spellman decided to make a sequel that told the story of the bizarre business-minded sexual relationship Cosby cemented with La Madrina when she was serving time in a federal prison 20 miles outside his hometown of Oakland, California. The now-43-year-old had penned a charismatic fan letter to Griselda in 1991, when he was an ambitious crack-cocaine dealer in his early 20s looking to become a true kingpin. Cocaine Cowboys 2 shows how Cosby won the Godmother's heart and eventually earned her wrath. He claims he netted millions of dollars a month selling cocaine he obtained through Griselda, who was still brokering coke deals from behind bars.
Both flicks were produced without cooperation from Griselda or her family members. "We made several attempts to interview Griselda through her lawyer Nathan Diamond," Spellman says. "He declined."
Cosby met the Godmother's son around the time Michael claims he went to live with his first legal guardian. The youngest Blanco heir was residing in Morgan Hill near San Jose. Griselda's pen pal was struck by how much the boy resembled his mom. Indeed, Michael has Griselda's oval face, large nose, cleft chin, and coffee-colored eyes.
Michael would sleep over at Cosby's house in Oakland. "The Godmother definitely appreciated me spending so much quality time with Michael Corleone," Cosby recollects in Cocaine Cowboys 2. "It really scored a lot of points for me in her eyes."
Cosby described his bond with Michael in greater detail in a September 8, 1997 deposition in connection with her homicide charges. The pair would talk about his father and his uncle Paco, a hit man for his mother. Cosby also claimed a 15-year-old Michael gave him a MAC-10 machine gun as a present in 1993.
The street hustler made another startling revelation that he didn't share for the documentary. Under oath, Cosby recalled that before his first meeting with the Godmother, Michael knew Griselda wanted to give him kilos. "On the drive [to the prison], Michael mentioned that Griselda wanted to give us some coke so we could sell it together," Cosby testified. "I asked Michael, 'What do you think about it?' He said, 'I'm ready.'"
Michael's buddy and manager, Cristian, questioned Cosby's statements. "There is no denying the old lady's life was as serious as a heart attack," he asserts. "However, a lot of Cocaine Cowboys was made up for entertainment purposes."
Cristian also denies allegations that Griselda was a teenage prostitute after running away from her abusive mother, and he disputes Cosby's most outlandish claim — that in 1995 Griselda plotted to kidnap John F. Kennedy Jr. as a way to avoid murder charges in Miami. An FBI investigative report released after Kennedy's death in 1999 shows that agents were unable to corroborate the abduction threat.
Even though they had not seen each other in more than a decade, Cosby invited Michael to the sequel's world premiere. "People think there was bad blood between us," Cosby says. "But there is no ill will." Even though he was never 100 percent onboard with the Cocaine Cowboys franchise, Michael accepted the invitation.
"Michael was the white elephant in the theater," Cristian recalls. "Needless to say, he hated the movie. He didn't like that one brother's dead body was pictured onscreen or that his oldest brother is depicted torturing a guy. It was a little bit too much for Michael."
The psychological trauma of growing up with such violence can be devastating to a young child, says Maximillian Wachtel, a criminal forensic psychologist and professor at the University of Denver. "It's likely that he has developed depression or anxiety," Wachtel says. "His emotional trauma is very similar to what Iraq War veterans experience. He could even suffer from posttraumatic stress syndrome."
Wachtel also reasons that Michael's moral compass is probably stunted. "Now, can you imagine growing up knowing people call your mom the Black Widow?"
A few months after the premiere of Cocaine Cowboys 2, Michael sat in a chair on the set of Cristina Saralegui's Spanish-language talk show. Dressed in a khaki sports jacket, black slacks, and a black dress shirt, Michael was there to talk about his mom. In a soft baritone and thick Colombian accent, he spoke about a Griselda Blanco the world doesn't know. "My little old lady is someone who loves people," Michael said. "She has dedicated herself to God. She is a Christian. She lived through hell for the 24 years she was incarcerated."
