Vincent Forlenza - in The Godfather Returns

In The Godfather Returns

Vincent Forlenza is a minor character in The Godfather, but one of the main antagonists of The Godfather Returns. The latter novel established his backstory; he is an immigrant from Sicily who establishes himself in the underworld by running numbers for other gangsters, and then killing them and assuming their territories. By the 1940s he is a force to be reckoned with, quietly expanding his empire throughout Ohio until no one stands in his way.

At around this time he employs Fausto Geraci, Sr. as a driver/associate and becomes godfather to his son, Nick.

In 1957 he conspires with Nick Geraci to kill Sal Narducci, Michael Corleone and Hyman Roth, thereby weakening the Corleone Family's gambling operation in Cuba, and strengthening the Chicago mob. Geraci personally executes Narducci while he is in hiding in Rome.

In 1961 Michael learns of Forlenza's plan and devises one of his own to kill him. As part of a sweeping revenge, when Forlenza has a heart attack at his home, Michael sends a fake ambulance to pick him up. The ambulance then drives him to the Cleveland docks, where Michael's men chain Forlenza to an old tugboat boat and sink it to the bottom of Lake Erie.

Forlenza is succeeded by his former caporegime, Frank "The Greek" Greco.