Paulie has seemingly betrayed Vito—and thus the family—by selling him out. In The Godfather, this kind of betrayal is the worst of all sins. We see the matter discussed, in the Corleone family office, just before the viewer spends time in front of Clemenza's cozy abode.
On the day the hit went down Gatto calls in sick, leaving only Fredo to protect the Don. Vito is seriously wounded in the attempt. Having Paulie brought to the Corleone compound Sonny Corleone deduced that Gatto had sold out his father.
Ultimately, Tessio betrays Michael by helping arrange his assassination at a peace summit with Barzini and Philip Tattaglia. The summit will be held in Tessio's fiefdom in Brooklyn, where Michael will presumably be safe. In return, Tessio was to inherit the Corleone family upon Michael's death.
However, Paulie didn't know that the family had several phone company employees on the payroll, one of whom alerted Sonny. When Sonny found out, he ordered Clemenza to have Paulie – "that stronz" (Italian for «turd»), as Sonny called him–killed on the spot.
Another popular anecdote floating around for years is that Sirico agreed to do the series as long as Paulie never became a “rat,” aka government informant, as the actor had a criminal past and took the issue seriously. It seems that is most likely accurate, as Schirripa noted that Sirico said, “I'll never play a rat.”
How Exactly Paulie and Carlo Betrayed the Corleone Family
Does Paulie betray Tony?
Paulie cut a deal with New York where he would arrange the assassination of Tony and declare himself the new boss of the DiMeo family. New York would back it with their muscle and influence to make sure Paulie's coup is seen as legitimate within the remaining Soprano family and the Five Families.
Between the third and fourth seasons, Paulie is arrested in Youngstown, Ohio on a gun possession charge and incarcerated at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center.
Paulie has seemingly betrayed Vito—and thus the family—by selling him out. In The Godfather, this kind of betrayal is the worst of all sins. We see the matter discussed, in the Corleone family office, just before the viewer spends time in front of Clemenza's cozy abode.
A rat is another word for snitch or informant. These four rats betrayed the Corleone family: Salvatore “Sal” Tessio, Paulie Gatto, Fabrizio and Carlo Rizzi.
2 Paulie Gatto Betrays Michael By Not Doing His Job
Paulie Gatto is Don Corleone's personal driver and bodyguard in The Godfather but during the simmering tension with Sallozzo, Paulie coincidentally takes off from his duties more often than usual. Without Paulie, Fredo is forced to chauffer his father.
Emilio "The Wolf" Barzini is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather and in its 1972 film adaptation, in which he is portrayed by Richard Conte.
Osvaldo "Ozzie" Altobello is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the 1990 film The Godfather Part III. In the film, he is portrayed by Eli Wallach.
At the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men trap Sonny and shoot him to death. During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder. After Michael returns from Sicily, he assumes Sonny's place as Vito's heir apparent.
In a fit of pique, Carlo sought revenge by making a deal with the Corleones' rival Emilio Barzini to kill Sonny, which would break the stalemate of the Five Families War and possibly allow the other crime families to negotiate a deal to sell narcotics in Corleone territory.
Of course, it is at this moment that Michael realizes it was Fredo who betrayed him to Hyman Roth, as in the previous scene Fredo pretended to have just met Johnny.
In this case Tessio just wanted to be in the business just like others but didn't believe in Michael ( Which he should have.) He saw a promising business along with Power of Barzini. He never wanted to be the top of the family. He just wanted someone to be above him and carry on with the business.
In the late summer of 1948, Sonny Corleone was lured into a trap and was killed at the Jones Beach Causeway by Barzini family hitmen in order to avenge Carlo. The hit was engineered by Emilio Barzini after Carlo, angered at the loss of his income and at the fact that Sonny had beaten him, helped set it up.
Clemenza's strongest attribute to the Corleones was his stubborn loyalty, not his intelligence. Thus, regardless of his complaints about Michael, he would never have betrayed the Corleones. Clemenza was known as a superb judge of talent.
It was pretty much an open secret in the Corleone family that Carlo had set up Sonny. Even Connie had picked up on it when she screams at Michael “ you blamed Carlo for Sonny, you all did” after Carlo is killed.
However, despite his seniority, Paulie is one of the more eccentric of Tony's associates and is arguably one of the most ruthless, as expressed by his paranoia, mysophobia, competitiveness, miserly nature, impulsive violence and often childlike dependence on Tony's approval.
Michael Corleone was loosely based on Salvatore “Bill” Bonanno, Joseph Bonanno's son, who was groomed to go into the straight life after law school but got prematurely pulled into the family business after his old man was kidnapped.
However, the most consequential might be Carlo Gervasi. Carlo was a capo and top earner for Tony. In the series finale "Made In America," Tony discovers that Carlo became an informant and posed the greatest threat to Tony going to prison.
After Tony is gone, Paulie decides to retire to Florida and hangs out with Beansie Gaeta, another former member of the Aprille crew. Paulie remains in Florida and still has one of the greatest tans, something that was important to him even when he lived in New Jersey.
While Tony seriously considered murdering Paulie, he ultimately decided to spare his life. Seemingly out of "gratitude", Paulie sent Carmela a $2,000 espresso machine to replace her broken one.
