Giuseppe Farinella (24 December 1925 – 5 September 2017) was a Sicilian mafioso, boss of the

San Mauro Castelverde San Mauro Castelverde ( Sicilian: ''Santu Màuru'') is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, southern Italy. San Mauro Castelverde had an estimated population of 1,634. Notable persons from San Mauro Castelverde include Sa ...

family and a one-time member of the

Sicilian Mafia Commission The Sicilian Mafia Commission (Italian: ''Commissione provinciale''), known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Sicilian Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicili ...

, a village on 1,000 meters above sea level in the

Madonie The Madonie (; Sicilian: ''Madunìi'') are one of the principal mountain ranges on the island of Sicily, located in the Northern part of the island. Its name comes from the feud of Madonìa which belonged to the noble family of La Farina from P ...

mountain range in the

province of Palermo The Province of Palermo ( it, provincia di Palermo; Sicilian: ''pruvincia di Palermu'') was a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital was the city of Palermo. On 4 August 2015, it was replaced ...

, is the stronghold of the Farinella Mafia family that goes back to the 19th century. It is often used as a hide out for fugitive mafiosi. Giuseppe Farinella is the son of Mariano Farinella, already known as a criminal in the days of the Iron Prefect,

Cesare Mori Cesare Mori (; 22 December 1871 – 5 July 1942) was a prefect (''prefetto'') before and during the Fascist period in Italy. He is known in Italy as the "Iron Prefect" (''Prefetto di Ferro'') because of his iron-fisted campaigns against the Mafia ...

, appointed by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

to suppress the Mafia in the late 1920s.Sgarbi e il cugino del boss ergastolano
La Repubblica, April 6, 2012 For many years Giuseppe ''Don Peppino'' Farinella was the uncontested chieftain of the area. He became the "

capo mandamento Within Cosa Nostra a mandamento is traditionally a district of three geographically contiguous Mafia cosche (families controlling a single land feud, or a city ward) in Sicily. A capomandamento represents the head of a territory, the mandamento, ...

" of Gangi-

area, and his influence reached into the

province of Messina Messina (, ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital was the city of Messina. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Messina. Geography Territory It had an area of , which amounts to 12.6 percent o ...

.Report concerning the activities conducted and the results obtained
by the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (DIA), first half of 2000 He was a member of the

since the late 1970s, according to the

pentiti ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...

Salvatore Cancemi Salvatore Cancemi (; 19 March 1942 – 14 January 2011) was an Italian mobster and member of the Sicilian Mafia from Palermo. He is the first member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission that turned himself in voluntarily to become a ''pentito'', ...

Francesco Di Carlo Francesco Di Carlo (February 18, 1941 – April 16, 2020) was a member of the Sicilian Mafia who turned state witness (pentito — a mafioso turned informer) in 1996. He was accused of being the killer of Roberto Calvi, nicknamed "God's ...

and

Giovanni Brusca Giovanni Brusca (; born 20 February 1957) is an Italian mobster and former member of the Corleonesi clan of the Sicilian Mafia. He had a major role in the 1992 murders of Antimafia Commission prosecutor Giovanni Falcone and businessman Ignazio ...

.Sentenza di secondo grado Riina + 7 (omicidio Francese)
/ref> He was close to the

Corleonesi The Corleonesi Mafia clan was a faction within the Corleone family of the Sicilian Mafia, formed in the 1970s. Notable leaders included Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Leoluca Bagarella. Corleonesi affiliates were n ...

, and supported them during the

Second Mafia War The Second Mafia War was a period of conflict involving the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place from the late 1970s to the early 1990s and involved thousands of homicides. Sometimes referred to as The Great Mafia War or the ''Mattanza'' (Italian ...

, though due to San Mauro Castelverde's relative isolation, his Mafia faction did not have an active role in the war. An old fashioned mafia boss, Don Peppino, did not allow his men to extort local shopkeepers, which was common among mafiosi from the countryside. Revenues were not considered worthwhile compared to the money that could be extorted from companies that won public tenders in construction. Moreover, not extorting local shopkeepers Mafia bosses increased their legitimacy among the locals. "''Don Peppino did not want his men to extort a '' pizzo'' from the shopkeepers,'' according to a victim, ''because the latter, in contrast to entrepreneurs, did not carry out any speculative activity and the because he … thought that asking shopkeepers for a '' tangente'' seemed like begging for alms''."Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 169 Farinella was arrested on March 21, 1992. As member of the Commission he was held responsible for the killing of the two prominent anti-mafia judges

Paolo Borsellino Paolo Emanuele Borsellino (; scn, Pàulu Borsellino; 19 January 1940 – 19 July 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 t ...

and

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 ...

, receiving life sentences. In January 1993, he was also sentenced to nine years in prison in the trial against the Mafia in

area. He was considered to be the Mafia boss of the area.Madonie, tredici condanne
Corriere della Sera, January 10, 1993 He died on 5 September 2017 in prison in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

.Mafia, muore a 91 anni il boss Farinella. Era al 41 bis per le stragi del 1992
La Repubblica, 5 September 2017

References

*Paoli, Letizia (2003). ''Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style'', New York: Oxford University Press {{DEFAULTSORT:Farinella, Giuseppe 1925 births 2017 deaths Sicilian mafiosi Sicilian Mafia Commission Sicilian mafiosi sentenced to life imprisonment