The story
From godfather (“a mafia leader”), in reference to the 1969 novel The Godfather and its adaptations + nod off (“to fall asleep, especially unintentionally”), in reference to the subjects doing so during their criminal proceedings. Coined November 2010 during testimony phase of United States of America v. Curanovic (Capatano) (case no. 10-4883), saw resurgence in 2025.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.