Donnie Brasco

Did Al Pacino's character, Lefty Ruggiero, really get whacked as the end of the film implies?

No, he did not get whacked. Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggerio was picked up by FBI agents as he left his apartment on August 30, 1981. As a result of Pistone's work, Ruggerio was sentenced to serve twenty years in prison. In the early 1990's, he was released from prison, and on Thanksgiving Day, 1995, at age 72, he died of cancer in his New York home.

What happened to Michael Madsen's character, Dominick 'Sonny Black' Napolitano, who was also responsible for bringing Brasco into the family?

In early August of 1982 surveillance agents noticed workmen dismantling Sonny's

pigeon coops on top of the Motion Lounge. On August 12, 1982, Sonny Black's body was discovered in a hospital body bag in a creek near South Avenue close to the Geothals Toll Bridge that connects Staten Island to Linden, New Jersey. His hands had been cut off, and his body contained several gunshot wounds.

So, if Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) was never whacked, was the part at the end of the film where he removes his jewelry just for dramatic effect?

This is said to have happened, but it wasn't Lefty. According to a source of Court TV's Crime Library, it is said that before leaving his crew for certain death, Sonny Black removed his jewelry and gave it to them.

Did Al Pacino's character, Lefty Ruggiero, really receive a lion?

Yes, he did. In reality the lion was still somewhat of a cub, and it could be handled more easily than the adult lion depicted in the film. Donnie Brasco and Lefty fed the lion twenty to thirty steaks a day, and Lefty could at times be seen walking the lion up and down the street. When the lion became too big for them to control, they took it to a park, tied it to a tree, and had the police called to come take the animal.