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Salvatore Contorno
Salvatore Contorno (; born 28 May 1946), called Totuccio, is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia who turned into a state witness (''pentito'') against Cosa Nostra in October 1984, following the example of Tommaso Buscetta. He gave detailed accounts of the inner-workings of the Sicilian Mafia. His testimonies were crucial in the Maxi Trial against the Sicilian Mafia in Palermo and the Pizza Connection trial in New York City in the mid 1980s. Early Mafia career Contorno was born in Palermo. His father Antonino had been a mafioso from the later dissolved Corso Calatafimi Mafia family. Salvatore Contorno was a godson of Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco, who would go on to become the secretary of the Sicilian Mafia Commission. In 1975, the butcher ''Totuccio'' Contorno was initiated in the Santa Maria di Gesù Mafia family in Palermo, then led by Stefano Bontade, an influential member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission and a close ally of Ciaschiteddu. Contorno and Bontade used to be hu ...
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Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as ("flower"). Palermo then became a possession of Carthage. Two ancient Greeks, Greek ancient Greek colonization, colonies were established, known collectively as ; the Carthaginians used this name on their coins after the 5th centuryBC. As , the town became part of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, Empire for over a thousand years. From 831 to 1072 the city was under History of Islam in southern Italy, Arab ru ...
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Michele Greco
Michele Greco (; 12 May 1924 – 13 February 2008) was a member of the Sicilian Mafia and a convicted murderer. Greco died in prison while serving multiple life sentences. His nickname was ''Il Papa'' ("The Pope") due to his ability to mediate between different Mafia families.Ascesa, omicidi e sconfitte tutti i segreti del "Papa"
'''', February 13, 2008
Greco was the head of the .


Rise to power

Michele Greco was part of the powerful
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Gaetano Grado
Gaetano Grado (born in Palermo, 8 March 1943) is an Italian mafioso from Palermo, Sicily. He was a member of the Santa Maria di Gesù family under Stefano Bontade until his arrest, after which he became a justice collaborator. Biography Gaetano Grado and his brother Antonino Grado were among the trusted men of the Mafia faction led by Stefano Bontade. Jointly with his brothers Vincenzo, Salvatore, Giacomo and Antonio, started to import morphine base from Turkey in 1975, which was refined into heroin in laboratories run by Santa Maria di Gesù Mafia family on Sicily, and subsequently trafficked into the United States.Calvi, ''L'Europe des Parrains'', pp. 204-07 Gaetano was a feared killer, and once killed a group of teenagers only because they were making noise in a restaurant he was dining and interrupting his meal: two of them were strangled and the remaining three gunned down. For his reputation Grado was among the soldiers of Stefano Bontade, alongside Emanuele D'Agostino, sen ...
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Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection although the DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and abroad. The DEA has an DEA Office of National Security Intelligence, intelligence unit that is also a member of the United States Intelligence Community, U.S. Intelligence Community. While the unit is part of the DEA chain-of-command, it also reports to the Director of National Intelligence. History and mandate The Drug Enforcement Administration was established on July 1, 1973, ...
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Bagheria
Bagheria (; scn, Baarìa ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre. Etymology According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sicilian ''Baarìa'') originates from the Phoenician term ''Bayharia'' meaning "land that descends toward the sea." Other sources claim that it derives from the Arabic ''Bāb al-Gerib'', or "windy gateway." However, the most plausible explanation is that it derives from Arabic ', meaning 'of the sea, marine'. According to "Deciphering the English Code", Joseph Aronesty, the BAGH refers to a "base or bottom". Eria is just "earth" or land, from Hebrew "eretz" and many old languages. Also "area" Latin. Bagheria therefore means what it is, a land at the bottom of mountains. History Since its founding, the town has gone by the names of ''Bayharia'', ''Baharia'', and ''Baarìa''. In 1658 Giuseppe Branciforti, Prince of Butera and former Viceroy o ...
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Witness Protection Program
Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require protection until the conclusion of a trial, some witnesses are provided with a new identity and may live out the rest of their lives under government protection. Witness protection is usually required in trials against organized crime, where law enforcement sees a risk for witnesses to be intimidated by colleagues of defendants. It is also used at war crime, espionage and national security issues trials. Witness protection by country Not all countries have formal witness protection programs; instead, local police may implement informal protection as the need arises in specific cases. Canada Canada's Witness Protection Program Act received royal assent on June 20, 1996. The program is run by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), wi ...
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Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian Mafia. After a long and distinguished career, culminating in the Maxi Trial in 1986–1987, on 23 May 1992, Falcone was assassinated by the Corleonesi Mafia in the Capaci bombing, on the A29 motorway near the town of Capaci. His life parallels that of his close friend Paolo Borsellino. They both spent their early years in the same neighbourhood in Palermo. Though many of their childhood friends grew up in the Mafia background, both men fought on the other side of the war as prosecuting magistrates.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', pp. 22–27 They were both killed in 1992, a few months apart. In recognition of their tireless effort and sacrifice during the anti-mafia trials, they were both awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Valor and were ack ...
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Giuseppe Calò
Giuseppe "Pippo" Calò (born 30 September 1931) is an Italian mobster and member of the Sicilian Mafia in Porta Nuova. He was referred to as the "''cassiere di Cosa Nostra''" (Mafia's Cashier) because he was heavily involved in the financial side of organized crime, primarily money laundering. He was arrested in 1985 and charged with ordering the murder of Roberto Calvi – nicknamed "''Il banchiere di Dio''" (God's banker) – of the Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, but was acquitted in 2007 due to "insufficient evidence" in a surprise verdict. After Calò was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment as part of the 1986/87 Maxi Trial, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1989 for organising the 1984 Train 904 bombing. He was given several further life sentences between 1995 and 2002. Boss of the Porta Nuova Mafia family Born and raised in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, he was inducted into the Porta Nuova Mafia family at the age of 23 after carrying out a murder to avenge his fathe ...
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Rome
, established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption = The territory of the ''comune'' (''Roma Capitale'', in red) inside the Metropolitan City of Rome (''Città Metropolitana di Roma'', in yellow). The white spot in the centre is Vatican City. , pushpin_map = Italy#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Italy##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = yes , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Italy , subdivision_type2 = Region , subdivision_name2 = Lazio , subdivision_type3 = Metropolitan city , subdivision_name3 = Rome Capital , government_footnotes= , government_type = Strong Mayor–Council , leader_title2 = Legislature , leader_name2 = Capitoline Assemb ...
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Antonino Cassarà
Antonino may refer to: * Antonino (name), a given name and a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Antonino, Kansas, an unincorporated community in Ellis County, Kansas, United States See also * Antoniano (other) * Antoñito (other) * San Antonino (other) * Sant'Antonino (other) Sant'Antonino is a municipality in the district of Bellinzona, Ticino, Switzerland. Sant'Antonino may also refer to: * Sant'Antonino, Haute-Corse, France, on the island of Corsica * Sant'Antonino di Susa, Turin, Piedmont, Italy See also * Antonian ...
{{disambiguation ...
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Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depicted as being of noble birth, and in modern retellings he is sometimes depicted as having fought in the Crusades before returning to England to find his lands taken by the Sheriff. In the oldest known versions he is instead a member of the yeoman class. Traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green, he is said to have robbed from the rich and given to the poor. Through retellings, additions, and variations, a body of familiar characters associated with Robin Hood has been created. These include his lover, Maid Marian, his band of outlaws, the Merry Men, and his chief opponent, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff is often depicted as assisting Prince John in usurping the rightful but absent King Richard, to whom Robin Hood remains loy ...
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Coriolano Della Floresta
Coriolano is both an Italian surname and a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: *Bartolomeo Coriolano, Italian Baroque engraver *Cristoforo Coriolano, German Renaissance engraver *Giovanni Battista Coriolano (1590–1649), Italian Baroque engraver *Theresa Maria Coriolano (1620–1671), Italian Baroque engraver *Coriolano Cippico (1425–1493), Dalmatian nobleman *Coriolano Vighi Coriolano Vighi (1846-1905) was an Italian painter, mainly of landscapes. He was born in Florence, resident in Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna re ... (1846–1905), Italian painter {{given name, type=both Italian-language surnames Italian masculine given names ...
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