Roger Stone indictment references 'Frank Pentangeli,' a character from 'The Godfather: Part II'

• Roger Stone was indicted and arrested on Friday. 
• Stone was charged with one count of obstruction, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering, according to a Justice Department filing on Thursday.
• The indictment contains a reference to a character from "The Godfather: Part II" who is intimidated into not testifying against a mafia boss. 
• According to the indictment, Stone in late 2017 told an associate - identified as "Person 2" - that they should "do a 'Frank Pentangeli' before [the House Intelligence Committee] in order to avoid contradicting STONE's testimony."
• The filing goes on to say, "Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both STONE and Person 2 had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know."

Roger Stone, former campaign adviser to President Donald Trump and longtime Republican strategist, was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller on Friday.

Stone was charged with one count of obstruction, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering, according to a Justice Department filing on Thursday.

He was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday, Mueller's office said. 

Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference has now seen 34 people charged with various crimes.

Read more: Mueller indicts former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone on charges of obstruction, false statements, and witness tampering

Friday's indictment contains a number of peculiar references, largely due to statements Stone made to various associates, including a mention of a fictional character from "The Godfather: Part II."

According to the indictment, Stone in late 2017 on "multiple occasions" told an associate - identified as "Person 2" - that they should "do a 'Frank Pentangeli' before [the House Intelligence Committee] in order to avoid contradicting STONE's testimony."

The filing goes on to say, "Frank Pentangeli is a character in the film The Godfather: Part II, which both STONE and Person 2 had discussed, who testifies before a congressional committee and in that testimony claims not to know critical information that he does in fact know."

Stone also told Person 2, "If you testify you're a fool ... I could never get away with a certain [sic] my Fifth Amendment rights but you can. I guarantee you you are the one who gets indicted for perjury if you're stupid enough to testify."

Read more: Meet Roger Stone: One of Donald Trump's most loyal supporters who was indicted by the Mueller probe

Person 2 appears to be Randy Credico, a comedian and left-wing radio host.

Both Credico and Stone have been tied to WikiLeaks, which was behind the release of a trove of emails from the Democratic National Committee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The emails were obtained by Russian hackers before they were released by WikiLeaks at the height of the campaign season. 

Stone testified under oath to Congress that he communicated with intermediaries about WikiLeaks and not directly with its editor, Julian Assange, about the emails. 

Credico in late 2017 asserted his Fifth Amendment rights shortly before he was set to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, which prompted the committee to state his presence was no longer required. Credico did, however, appear before Mueller's grand jury in September 2018. 

Read more: Video shows the moment Roger Stone was arrested in pre-dawn FBI raid after Mueller indictment

In "The Godfather: Part II," Pentangeli is called to testify before the Senate against the main character and mafia boss, Michael Corleone, but is ultimately convinced against doing so after Corleone brings Pentangeli's brother, Vincenzo, to the hearing all the way from Sicily.

This was essentially to intimidate Pentangeli into not testifying against Corleone and to remind him of the code of silence he swore to uphold as a member of the mafia. 

Pentangeli then promptly contradicted a sworn statement with damning allegations against Corleone and more or less tells senators that Corleone is not guilty of any wrongdoing.

Subsequently, Corleone's lawyer visited Pentangeli in prison, telling him that traitors in ancient Rome could save their families from retribution if they committed suicide. Pentangeli ultimately kills himself. 

Watch the infamous scene from "The Godfather: Part II" in which Pentangeli appears before Congress below: