Pietro Tagliavia

Pietro Tagliavia (born in 1978) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. Despite his young age, he is considered to be one of the upcoming leading Mafiosi of Cosa Nostra in Palermo.[1][2]

Mafia heritage

Pietro Tagliavia is a scion from a historical Mafia family in Palermo. His father Francesco Tagliavia (Palermo, 1954) – also known as "Ciccio Taglia" – and his grandfather and namesake Pietro Tagliavia were leading Mafiosi in the Corso dei Mille neighbourhood. The Tagliavia family owns two fish shops in the Corso dei Mille and the Piazza Sant'Erasmo in Palermo.[3] They were involved in cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking.[4]

His father was one of the members of a hit squad with Giuseppe Lucchese, Giovanni Drago, Filippo La Rosa, Giuseppe Graviano and Agostino Marino Mannoia that committed several murders, among others on relatives of Salvatore Contorno, a mafioso turned pentito (state witness).[5][6] As an expert in explosives, Francesco Tagliavia was also involved in the bomb attack that killed Antimafia judge Paolo Borsellino on July 19, 1992. He was arrested on May 23, 1993.[5] He received several life sentences and was submitted to the harsh Article 41-bis prison regime.[4][7]

Mother aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra

His mother, Giuseppa Sansone, was the first woman to be charged with aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra in July 1997.[8] After the arrest of her husband, she continued the family business with her son, collecting the pizzo (extortion money) and instructing drug runners. She acted as an intermediary between her husband in jail and the Graviano brothers, the Mafia bosses of Brancaccio, the mandamento of the Corso dei Mille Mafia family.[9]

While she visited her husband in prison four times a month, he passed messages in the so-called "baccagghiu", the typical slang of the mafia. They were caught on tape and hidden cameras.[10] Pietro and his grandfather were arrested on July 1, 1997,[10] while his mother was arrested on July 19, 1997.[8] On June 7, 2000, Giuseppa Sansone was sentenced to seven years in prison and her son Pietro and his grandfather were sentenced as well. She was later absolved.

Arrest

Pietro Tagliavia was arrested again on February 22, 2005, in Rome together with the reigning Mafia boss of Brancaccio, Benedetto Graviano, Cesare Lupo, and Tagliavia’s uncle Ludovico Sansone. Police described Tagliavia as one of the colonels of Graviano in charge with running protection rackets, drug dealing and public contracts in Palermo, while Graviano stayed in Rome to avoid police surveillance.[11][12][13] Tagliavia was convicted for extortion and the sentence was confirmed in appeal to 8 years imprisonment on January 23, 2008.[14]

After the arrest of an older generation bosses of Cosa Nostra – such as Bernardo Provenzano, Antonio Rotolo and Salvatore Lo Piccolo – in 2006 and 2007, Pietro Tagliavia, Gianni Nicchi and Salvo Riina – the second-born son of boss of bosses Totò Riina – were considered to be the upcoming young Mafia bosses.[1][15] Their fate depends on the decisions of the older bosses, most of whom are in jail.[2][16] According to Antonio Ingroia, one of the prosecutors of the Direzione Distrittuale Antimafia (DDA) of Palermo, the main leading figures in Cosa Nostra at the moment, Matteo Messina Denaro, Giovanni Riina, Domenico Raccuglia, Tagliavia and Nicchi, are still too young to be recognized as leading bosses of the organisation.[17]

References and sources

  1. 1 2 (Italian) Cosa Nostra, tanti boss ma nessun capo, La Repubblica, November 6, 2007
  2. 1 2 (Italian) 'Vincere Cosa nostra? Arresti e lavoro'. Intervista al magistrato De Lucia, Ateneonline, November 20, 2007
  3. ↑ (Italian) Mafia: Le signore omicidi, La Repubblica delle Donne, November 25, 1997
  4. 1 2 (Italian) Sentenza Borsellino bis, July 3, 2003
  5. 1 2 (Italian) Preso il sicario di Michele Greco, Corriere della Sera, May 23, 1993
  6. ↑ (Italian) Arrestato il superkiller Tagliavia, La Repubblica, May 23, 1993
  7. ↑ (Italian) Via D' Amelio, sette ergastoli, Corriere della Sera, February 14, 1999
  8. 1 2 (Italian) L’altra metà della Cupola, Narcomafie, October 2005
  9. ↑ (Italian) Il boss era una donna, La Repubblica, July 20, 1997
  10. 1 2 (Italian) Caselli: cosi' i boss comandano dal carcere, Corriere della Sera, July 2, 1997
  11. ↑ (Italian) Vecchie famiglie di nuovo a comando, 4 arrestati, ANSA, February 22, 2005
  12. ↑ (Italian) In manette i vertici della nuova cosca di Brancaccio: il boss dava gli ordini da Roma, La Repubblica, February 23, 2005
  13. ↑ (Italian) Gli affari della mafia di Brancaccio, La Sicilia, February 23, 2005
  14. ↑ (Italian) Palermo, pene per oltre 130 anni a processo per 23 boss, AGI, January 23, 2008
  15. ↑ (Italian) I rampolli di Cosa Nostra in lotta per il comando, La Repubblica, December 9, 2009
  16. ↑ (Italian) E’ sempre Totò Riina a scegliere il nuovo capo, La Sicilia, November 11, 2007
  17. ↑ (Italian) Lo Piccolo, il fautore della strategia della “rimmersione”, Intervista ad Antonio Ingroia, Antimafia Duemila n. 56, Anno VII° Numero 5 – 2007
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