The 1960s Sicilian Mafia trials took place at the end of that decade in response to a rise in organized crime violence around the late 1950s and early 1960s. There were three major trials, each featuring multiple defendants, that saw hundreds of alleged Mafiosi on trial for dozens of crimes. From the authority's point of view, they were a failure; very few defendants were convicted, although later trials as well as information from pentiti confirmed most of those acquitted were Mafiosi members, and were guilty of many crimes including some of those they were acquitted of. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Organized crime or criminal organizations are groups or operations run by criminals, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The Mafia (also referred to as Cosa Nostra or the Mob), is a criminal secret society which first developed in the mid-19th century in Sicily. ... Pentiti (Italian, literally meaning those who have repented) are former members of the Italian Mafia or similar criminal or terrorist organisations who have abandoned their criminal/terrorist organisation and helped police to discover as much as possible about the respective organisation, criminals, and in general anything related to their former...

Background

Since the Mafia's emergence sometime in the 19th Century there have been various crackdowns and bursts of anti-Mafia feeling against the criminal organisation, invariably after shocking crimes - particularly against non-Mafiosi or police - cause a public outcry. One of the first such incidences took place after the former Mayor of Palermo Emanuele Notarbartolo was stabbed to death on a train in 1893. A number of suspected Mafiosi were rounded up and tried in 1900 of the murder, and though convicted they were acquitted on appeal due to a minor technicality. In the 1920s, Cesare Mori was sent to Sicily by Benito Mussolini to combat the Mafia, although Mori's crude method of imprisoning thousands of men - many of them innocent - without trial meant the Mafia were able to swiftly reestablish themselves as before once Mori had departed. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Palermo (disambiguation). ... An SP freight train west of Chicago in 1992. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... The 1920s is a decade that is sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Cesare Mori was born in 1872 and was raised in an orphanage. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945) was the prime minister and dictator of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. ...

In the late 1950s, there was an increase in violence around the town of Corleone as rival factions in the local Mafia Clan, the Corleonisi, battled it out. More significantly there were a wave of murders and car bombings in and around Palermo in the First Mafia War that started in 1962. Corleone is a small town of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. ... Car bomb in Iraq, made from a number of concealed artillery shells in the back of a pickup truck. ... Michele Cavataio (died December 10, 1969, Palermo), also known as The Cobra was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

The single event that triggered a major crackdown against the Mafia was the Ciaculli massacre, when seven police officers were killed on June 30, 1963 whilst trying to diffuse a car bomb left by one group of mobsters who had actually intended it to kill some rival mobsters. The death of the policemen caused an outcry. In Octopus (see References), author Clare Sterling quotes the regional army commander for Sicily, Gerneral Aldo De Marco as ordering his men to: Funeral for the seven police and military officers that were killed while trying to defuse the car bomb in Ciaculli. ... June 30 is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A crackdown - albeit not quite as disregarding of civil liberties as General Aldo De Marco initially requested - did indeed follow, and during the mid-1960s, 1,995 suspected Mafiosi were arrested and charged with hundreds of crimes. It took many trials to process the accused, including three major ones.

The First Trial

The first trial opened in 1967 and concentrated on the growing involvement of the Sicilian Mafia in the international heroin trade. Specifically, the defendants were all those who had been at a series of meetings in October 1957 between American and Sicilian Mafiosi at the Grand Hotel Des Palmes in Palermo. The meeting was about heroin, with the Americans apparently not keen on getting too involved in drugs due to the lengthy sentences for trafficking, whilst the Sicilians were apparently all for it. At the time, authorities did not know of the decision the two organisations came to (which was for the Sicilians to import and distribute heroin into the US, with their American counterparts taking a slice of the profits), but they were aware it concerned trafficking heroin. (The meeting also concluded that, following the American model, the Sicilians should start up their own commission.) Image File history File links Genco_Russo. ... Giuseppe Genco Russo, Mafia boss of Mussomeli Giuseppe Genco Russo (Mussomeli, January 26, 1893 – March 18, 1976) was the Mafia boss of Mussomeli in the Province of Caltanissetta. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Heroin ((INN) Diacetylmorphine, (BAN) diamorphine) is an opioid synthesized directly from the extracts of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. ... Over four days, between October 12-16, 1957, the American gangster Joseph Bonanno allegedly attended a series of meetings between some high-level Sicilian and American mafiosi in the Grand Hotel des Palmes (Albergo delle Palme) in Palermo, Sicily – the most splendid in town at the time. ... Look up October in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... The Sicilian Mafia Commission, known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra. ...

Amongst the defendants were Gaetano Badalamenti, Tommaso Buscetta and Giuseppe Genco Russo. They were mostly charged with Organized Delinquency, an old law that was the nearest prosecutors had to a charge of being a Mafiosi (many in authority - whether out of niavety or otherwise - denied the existence of the Mafia in the 1960s, and in fact it was not until 1982 that being a member of the Mafia became a formal crime.) Gaetano Badalamenti (1923 - April 29, 2004) was an Italian-born Mafioso who was connected with the Pizza Connection drug smuggling scheme. ... Tommaso Buscetta (Palermo, July 13, 1928- New York, April 4, 2000) was a Sicilian mafioso. ... Giuseppe Genco Russo, Mafia boss of Mussomeli Giuseppe Genco Russo (Mussomeli, January 26, 1893 – March 18, 1976) was the Mafia boss of Mussomeli in the Province of Caltanissetta. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

All the Americans at the meeting, including Joseph Bonanno and Carmine Galante, were indicted, but none were extradited because the US had no such criminal charge of Organized Delinquency. Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who was the principal organizer of the meeting, would have stood trial but he had since died of natural causes. FBI Mugshot of former Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Bonanno taken in 1964. ... Carmine Galante aka Lilo, Cigar (February 21, 1910 – July 12, 1979) was the boss of the Bonanno crime family, a New York City Mafia crime organization from 1974 to 1979. ... In the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal charge of having committed a serious criminal offense. ... Extradition is the official process by which one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or state the surrender of a suspected or convicted criminal. ... Charles Lucky Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania) (November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was a Sicilian-American mobster. ...

The prosecutors did not have a great deal of evidence at the trial, principally relying on information from Joseph Valachi, an American Mafiosi who began co-operating with the government in 1962. As a low-level mobster, Valachi was not at the Grand Hotel Des Palmes meeting, but he was aware of the growing heroin trade and the Sicilian Mafia's involvement in it. The police had also put those at the meeting under surveillence at the time and for months afterwards in the hope of collecting evidence that they were dealing in narcotics. Joseph Joe Valachi (September 22, 1904 - April 3, 1971) was the first person to acknowledge the existence of the Mafia. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ...

The evidence was still thin on the ground and at the conclusion of the trial in August 1968 every single defendant was acquitted. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ...

The Trial of the 114

Overlapping the above trial was the Trial of the 114, so-called becaused it featured 114 defendants. This trial took place in Catanzaro on the Italian mainland, partly due to there being no facilities for such a large trial in Sicily and also in the hope of minimizing intimidation of witnesses. Anti-Mafia judge Cesare Terranova signed the order to send the men to trial in 1965, ruling that they crimes and those accused of carrying them out were all linked and should be tried as an organized body. Country Italy Region Calabria Province Catanzaro (CZ) Mayor Rosario Olivo (since June 2006) Elevation 342 m Area 111. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Judge Cesare Terranova Cesare Terranova (August 15, 1921 - September 25, 1979) was a magistrate from Sicily notable for his anti-Mafia stance. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

The defendants were accused of crimes relating to the First Mafia War, the charges including multiple murder, kidnapping, tobacco smuggling, theft, "public massacre" (the Ciaculli bombing) and Organized Delinquency. This article is about the product manufactured from Tobacco plants (Nicotiana spp. ... A skirmish with smugglers from Finland at the Russian border, 1853, by Vasily Hudiakov. ... Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ...

Amongst those on trial were the heads of the opposing factions in the Mafia War, Salvatore Greco and Angelo La Barbera, as well as the man who had actually triggered the war by framing La Barbera, Michele Cavataio. Also there were Giuseppe Calo and Luciano Leggio. Salvatore Ciaschiteddu Greco (January 13, 1923, Palermo – March 7, 1978, Caracas, Venezuela) was a powerful mafioso and boss of the Mafia Family in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo famous for its citrus fruit groves. ... Angelo La Barbera (Palermo, July 3, 1924 – Perugia, July, 1975) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. ... Michele Cavataio (died December 10, 1969, Palermo), also known as The Cobra was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. ... Giuseppe Pippo Calo (born 1931) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. ... Luciano Leggio at his murder trial in 1974 Luciano Leggio (some sources spell his surname Liggio) (1925–January 16, 1993) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. ...

The trial opened in December 1967 and lasted until December 22, 1968. It resulted in a mere ten convictions, with several of those being just for Organized Delinquency. This only carried a sentence of a few years, and most of those convicted of it were released instantly thanks to time already served. Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ...

The longest sentence was handed to Angelo La Barbera, who was given twenty-two-years for ordering the kidnap and murder of two rival mobsters who had vanished in 1963 after they were seen being bundled off the streets; someone who witnessed the kidnapping testified for the prosecution despite death threats, one of the few witnesses to do so. Tommaso Buscetta was given a thirteen-year sentence for kidnapping the men but his conviction was in absentia because he was not present at the trial. He had fled Sicily after the Ciaculli Massacre to avoid the inevitable crackdown. Buscetta was captured in Brazil in 1973 and sent back to Sicily to serve his sentence. Salvatore Greco was also convicted in absentia. No-one was found guilty of the Ciaculli Massacre. Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For in absentia medical care, see Health care delivery. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ...

Amongst the 104 defendants acquitted was Luciano Leggio. It is not known for certain what role - if any - he played in the First Mafia War, although he spent a lot of time in Palermo in the early 1960s and was apparently friends with Salvatore Greco. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Corleonisi Trial

Luciano Leggio on trial

Leggio would play a significant role in the third trial which began in February 1969, just two-months after the end of the Trial of the 114. This trial, which took place once again on the Italian mainland, in the town of Bari, had sixty-four defendants, all from the town of Corleone. Image File history File links Luciano_Leggio. ... Image File history File links Luciano_Leggio. ... Luciano Leggio at his murder trial in 1974 Luciano Leggio (some sources spell his surname Liggio) (1925–January 16, 1993) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Location within Italy Bari is the capital of the province of Bari and of the Apulia (or Puglia) region, on the Adriatic sea, in Italy. ...

The charges related to a Mafia War in Corleone that started in 1958 when the local Mafia boss Michele Navarra was gunned down by Leggio and his men and lasted five-years, resulting in over fifty murders, as Leggio and his faction battled it out with Navarra's supporters. Leggio, who was victorious and now the new Corleonisi Boss, was the key defendant, charged with murdering nine people, including Navarra. Amongst his co-defenndants was his eventual successor, Salvatore Riina, also accused of Navarra's slaying. Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. Michele Navarra (1905 - August 2, 1958) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. ... Salvatore Riina Salvatore Riina, also known as Totò Riina (born November 16, 1930) is one of the most infamous members of the Sicilian Mafia. ...

Bernardo Provenzano should have stood trial too, having been indicted for triple murder in 1963, but he had somehow escaped the police dragnet, something he managed to do until 2006. Bernardo Provenzano in 1959, aged 26. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

The prosecutor was once again Cesare Terranova, who had made it clear that he was intent on putting Leggio away for good.

As was the case in all three trials, the defendants pleaded innocent and insisted they were not members of any Mafia, and that they had never heard of such an organization. When Leggio took the stand he made the rather strange claim that he was being framed by a police officer who had "begged me repeatedly to pleasure his wife; and I, for moral reasons, refused...Please don't ask me for names, I am a gentleman." He and some other defendants did, however, admit to the minor crime of dealing on the black market during World War II. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into underground economy. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

There was significant evidence tampering during the trial. For example, fragments of a broken car light found at the Navarra murder scene which had been identified as belonging to an Alfa Romeo car owned by Leggio had, by the time of the trial, been replaced by bits of a broken light from a completely different make of car. Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturing company, founded as Darracq Italiana by Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq. ...

As the jury retired in July, they and the judge received an anonymous note that read: This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

All sixty-four defendants were acquitted.

Italy had no protection against double jeopardy at the time, meaning someone could be tried more than once for the same crime. Cesare Terranova successfully appealed against the acquittal of the "gentlemen from Corleone" so many, including Leggio and Riina, had to go into hiding almost as soon as they were released. Leggio was retried in absentia for the Navarra murder in 1970, and this time found guilty, but it was four-years before he could be captured and sent off to serve his life sentence. For other uses, see Double jeopardy (disambiguation). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Life imprisonment is a term used for a particular kind of sentence of imprisonment. ...

Salvatore Riina, also convicted in absentia at a second trial for murdering Navarra, remained a fugitive until 1993. Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

Aftermath

Many of the prosecutors and judges involved in the trials, including Terranova, complained that the political will from Rome to prosecute the Mafia that followed the after the Ciaculli Massacre had evaporated by the end of the 1960s, leaving prosecutors on their own. Whilst there was undoubtedly witness intimidation and evidence tampering, a lot of the evidence was fairly thin. There were no pentiti at the time and few non-Mafiosi willing to risk death by testifying for the prosecution. Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5...

Cesare Terranova was gunned down in 1979. Leggio was accused of ordering the killing from his prison cell, but acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

On December 10, 1969, once all the trials were over, Michele Cavatio and three of his men were shot to death in a gun battle that left one of the attackers dead as well. Having drastically reduced its activities during the crackdown following the Ciaculli Massacre, the Mafia was back in business and its first job was to dispose of Cavatio, who they had finally realised had triggered the First Mafia War. December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, 21 days before the next year. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ...

Many of those in the above trials were convicted at a later date. For example, Gaetano Badalamenti would end his days in a US prison after being convicted of doing in the 1970s and 1980s exactly what he had been accused of planning in the 1960s, namely trafficking heroin into America. Tommaso Buscetta would eventually become one of the first Mafia pentiti and revealed a great deal about the Mafia, although he was a little reluctant to implicate himself or his friends too much, his revelations concentrating on his enemies such as Leggio, Riina and Giuseppe Calo. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

See also

The Maxi Trial, which ended in over three-hundred convictions, took place in 1986/87 in the aftermath of the Second Mafia War. Several defendants in the 1960s trial were present, including Luciano Leggio, Giuseppe Calo and (in absentia) Bernardo Provenzano and Salvatore Riina. Tommaso Buscetta was also present, both as a defendant and also a prosecution witness. Giovanni Falcone, one of the architects of the Maxi Trial. ... Salvatore Riina Salvatore Riina, also known as Totò Riina (born November 16, 1930) is one of the most infamous members of the Sicilian Mafia. ...

References

• Gaia Servadio, Mafioso: A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day (Secker & Warburg, 1976), ISBN 0-436-44700-2.
• Claire Sterling, Octopus: How the long reach of the Sicilian Mafia controls the global narcotics trade (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ISBN 0-671-73402-4.
• John Dickie, Cosa Nostra: A history of the Sicilian Mafia (Coronet, 2004), ISBN 0-340-82435-2.