Book Nook - Chasing Goodfellas: Lufthansa, Henry Hill, Point Shaving, and Making Movies

With one ad-lib — "Don't give me the babe-in-the-woods routine, Karen!" — Edward McDonald went from being an enormously successful prosecutor of organized crime to a recognizable personality for playing himself in the iconic Oscar-winning film Goodfellas. 

 

Ed has taken that same confident and entertaining panache and applied it to his debut memoir, Chasing Goodfellas: Lufthansa, Henry Hill, Point Shaving, and Making Movies (Post Hill Press, October 13, 2026). For the first time, he takes us inside the real-life investigations, prosecutions, and trials of two front-page courtroom battles, the Lufthansa Heist and the Boston College point-shaving scandal; behind the scenes of his iconic movie-making experience; and shares unforgettable anecdotes from his humorous, exciting, and sometimes sad three-decade relationship with Henry Hill, the incorrigible mafia character he turned into a witness.

I had a chance to learn more in this interview.

What's one fact that might surprise people to know about the Italian-American mafia? How few Italian Americans have and have had anything to do with the Mafia.This has become more true as the children and grandchildren of Italian immigrants have moved into the American mainstream and out of their ethnic neighborhoods. Italian American boys now face far less discrimination, have greater educational opportunities, and are more inclined to aspire to professional employment rather than a life in the underworld. They might enjoy watching Goodfellas – but they wouldn’t want to be them.                                                    

What are point-shaving scandals and why do sports scandals and bribery continue today? Point-shaving occurs when athletes, usually basketball players, keep their team’s margin of victory below what oddsmakers have set as the “betting line.” For example, if the odds are that a team will win by more than 10 points, and players intentionally keep the final winning margin below 10, point shaving occurs. Of course, the players can also intentionally lose. Generally, such schemes are organized by gangsters who are able to maximize profits by the use of networks of bookmakers who take significant numbers of bets. 

The potential for an increased incidence of point-shaving today is the result of the explosion of and popularity of legalized sports betting in the last few years. Over 60 individuals, including active NBA and college players, have been indicted in cases in federal courts in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, indictments that were returned in October 2025 and January 2026. Many defendants have pleaded guilty and will continue to do so. The trial of Chauncy Billups, a retired NBA star who has been suspended as the  coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, on charges of sports bribery and facilitating the operation of fixed high stakes poker games, is scheduled in Brooklyn for November 2. The trial of suspended Miami Heat player Terry Rozier on sports bribery charges is scheduled for February 2026 in Brooklyn. So this remains a timely topic.

Knowing the fallout of the Lufthansa heist and how far some people involved in organized crime will go to avoid prosecution, have you ever been afraid during your role as prosecutor? I was usually unconcerned with the potential for violence. That was probably naive and wishful thinking. My colleagues and I also bought into the then common wisdom that if you prosecuted gangsters fairly, they would not resort to violence. In addition, at the end of the day, if the bad guys resorted to violence against law enforcement, there were always many more cops and agents to retaliate. And the bad guys did not want to take the risk. 

What do you hope readers take away from your book? The book does not have a profound message. It tells several unforgettable inside stories about extremely interesting landmark criminal investigations and trials, as well as the colorful and sometimes murderous characters who were involved. It also provides riveting accounts of the prosecutor's unlikely experience in getting to play himself in a movie classic and his even more improbable 30 year relationship with the gangster who was his critical witness and the subject of the movie.

About the Author: 

Edward McDonald, author of the debut memoir Chasing Goodfellas: Lufthansa, Henry Hill, Point Shaving, and Making Movies, headed the Justice Department’s largest and most successful Organized Crime Strike Force in Brooklyn throughout the 1980s. He was responsible for the convictions of the leaders of 4 of the 5 Mafia families in New York, over 60 La Cosa Nostra (LCN) capos and soldiers, more than 70 corrupt labor union officials, and countless others associated with the LCN. He also successfully tried New Jersey Senator Harrison Williams and successfully prosecuted 5 US congressmen. 

A member of the Screen Actors Guild, Ed played himself in Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award-winning film Goodfellas and appeared in three other films. He has been a fixture on television, with appearances on news shows including Good Morning America and Today, and countless organized crime documentaries, including GOTTI: Godfather & Son on History/A&E/Bio and The 5 Families on Netflix.

In private law practice in New York since 1990, he has been praised by the Legal 500, which said, “the ‘excellent Edward McDonald’ lives up to his reputation as ‘one of the best criminal defense attorneys in New York.’” A graduate of Boston College and Georgetown Law School, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Mary, a short walk from his 3 sons and 5 grandchildren.