Giuseppe Farinella

Giuseppe Farinella (San Mauro Castelverde, Sicily, December 24, 1925) is a Sicilian mafioso, boss of the San Mauro Castelverde family and a one-time member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission.

San Mauro Castelverde, a village on 1,000 meters above sea level in the Madonie mountain range in the province of Palermo, 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.

For many years Giuseppe "Don Peppino" Farinella was the uncontested chieftain of the area. He became the "capo mandamento" of Gangi-San Mauro Castelverde area, and his influence reached into the province of Messina. [http://www.interno.it/dip_ps/dia/eng/1sem2000.htm 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 Sicilian Mafia Commission since the late 1970s, according to the pentiti Salvatore Cancemi, Francesco Di Carlo and Giovanni Brusca. [it icon [http://www.antimafiaduemila.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=getit&lid=9 Sentenza di secondo grado Riina + 7 (omicidio Francese)] ] He was close to the Corleonesi, and supported them during the Second Mafia 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 and Giovanni Falcone, receiving life sentences.

References

* Paoli, Letizia (2003). "Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style", New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-515724-9