Former mobster Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is a free man. 
 
 He was recently released from a federal prison, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. He will be on lifetime federal parole. 
 
 An ADOC spokesperson was unsure of the exact date of his release but multiple reports suggest he was let out on Sept. 18. 
 
 Gravano helped bring down John Gotti, the head mobster boss, and other mobsters in 1991 by turning on the mob family and speaking to federal investigators. 
 
 But the reason why he was in a federal prison in Arizona was that he was busted for starting a major ecstasy ring that made about $500,000 per week. He was arrested in 2000 and in September of 2002, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. 
 
 Gravano's daughter, Karen Gravano, is on the reality TV show Mob Wives. She may have known the early release was coming because she posted a photo of a pocket watch on Instagram with the vague caption "only a matter of time." 
 
 A post shared by Karen Gravano (@karengravano) on Aug 12, 2017 at 5:30pm PDT 
 
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 Copyright 2017 KPHO/KTVK (KPHO Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved. ||||| Notorious ​M​afia hit man-​turned-canary Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano has been released from an Arizona prison five years early, according to inmate records. 
 
 ​​ 
 
 The ​infamous ​72-year-old mob rat, who ​squealed to ​help authorities bring down “Dapper Don” John Gotti in exchange for a 1991 plea deal, was let out Sept​. 18, Arizona’s Department of Corrections records show. 
 
 He’ll​​ remain on federal parole for the rest of his life, as ordered by Brooklyn federal ​Judge Allyne Ross in 2002 when she locked him up. 
 
 “I spoke to him,” the aged wiseguy’s daughter, Karen Gravano, ecstatically told The Post. “He is happy to be out after spending the last 17½ years in prison. He’s in good health, great spirits and he’s anxious to move forward with the next phase of his life.” 
 
 “There is no doubt I’m extremely happy,” she said. “I’ve been fighting for this day the whole 17½ years that he’s been in prison, so I’m ecstatic it’s finally here.” 
 
 Defense attorney Thomas Farinella echoed Gravano’s comments almost exactly, saying his client was “in good health and great spirits” and “extremely happy to be out.” 
 
 He declined to comment on whether the elder Gravano would settle again in Arizona, or if he would continue sketching — a hobby he picked up while incarcerated. 
 
 The former Gambino underboss pleaded guilty to running a nearly 50-person, $500,000-a-week ecstasy ring in 2001, and was sentenced to 20 years behind bars. 
 
 That conviction followed a sweetheart deal in which Gravano was sentenced to just five years in prison for an admitted 19 murders — in exchange for helping the feds fell 39 mobsters, including his former boss and pal the Teflon Don. 
 
 The turncoat consigliere took the stand and spilled the Five Families’ secrets for five days during Gotti’s trial — and then testified in nine more, putting 39 wiseguys and associates in prison. 
 
 At the time, he was the highest-ranking member of La Cosa Nostra to turn fed. 
 
 After a short stint in the big house followed by an even shorter one in witness protection, he moved to Tempe, Arizona, and lived under the assumed name Jimmy Moran. 
 
 While Gravano was living in Arizona, peddling ecstasy and installing pools, he barely escaped his own killing, when the late godfather’s enraged brother, Peter Gotti, sent a team of hitmen to go find him in the Copper State. 
 
 The then-Gambino crime boss ordered the hit in retaliation for his brother’s death from cancer at age 61 behind bars. 
 
 His latest bid for early release was in 2015, when Ross declined to shave years off his sentence, citing his “longstanding reputation for extreme violence.” ||||| Legendary mob turncoat Sammy (The Bull) Gravano is a free man after serving out an ecstasy dealing sentence shaved down for good behavior, his lawyer said. 
 
 Gravano, 72, was convicted in 2002 for distributing and possessing MDMA. That came after he was in witness protection for taking the stand and helping bring down late Gambino boss John Gotti. 
 
 Gravano's lawyer, Thomas Farinella, said Gravano was released on Monday. 
 
 "He's in good spirits, good health, and anxious to move forward with the next stage of life," Farinella told the Daily News. 
 
 Hat honoring mob boss John Gotti given to his prosecutor 
 
 The attorney said he had to withhold specifics about Gravano' plans and whereabouts. 
 
 "Right now, his plan is to soak up the experience he's in right now," he said. "He’s focused re-acclimating into society and enjoying his freedom." 
 
 Gravano had been sentenced on the drug charges to 20 years in prison, plus the rest of his life on supervised release. He was being held in Arizona prison, according to radaronline.com and was due to be released in 2019. 
 
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 About two years ago, Gravano tried to slice down his prison time due to amendments in federal sentencing guidelines. 
 
 Brooklyn Federal Judge Allyne Ross denied the bid to lop off about three years. She said she wouldn't tinker with the ecstasy sentence, even though Gravano might have "favorably adjusted to life in prison." 
 
 Ross said her reasons had to do with the "staggering severity" of Gravano's criminal history — like his approximately 19 murders and murder conspiracies in about 15 years, plus his past jury tampering. 
 
 The judge said he ended up with an extremely lenient five-year sentence for the crimes, based on his cooperation. 
 
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 But months after the gangland sentence, Ross said Gravano turned to a "large scale Ecstasy distribution venture." 
 
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– Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, a notorious Mafia hit man who ended up ratting out his fellow mobsters in exchange for a plea deal, is done with his second stint in prison years early. Per court records, Gravano, 72, was released in Arizona Sept. 18, the New York Post reports. He'll be on federal parole the rest of his life. Gravano was an underboss and consigliere with the Gambino crime family when he turned rat in 1991—at the time, the highest-ranking mafia member to become a turncoat—helping authorities nab John Gotti and 38 other mobsters. In exchange, he was sentenced to his first stay in prison, just five years for 19 murders. After that stint in prison and another in witness protection, he settled in Arizona (where he was living when Gotti's brother ordered a hit on him), but he was sentenced to another 20 years behind bars when he pleaded guilty to running an ecstasy ring in 2001 after being arrested the year prior. He was sentenced in 2002, AZFamily.com reports. The New York Daily News says his early release is a result of good behavior. "I spoke to him," his daughter Karen (a cast member on Mob Wives) tells the Post. "He is happy to be out after spending the last 17½ years in prison. He’s in good health, great spirits and he’s anxious to move forward with the next phase of his life."