- Giuseppe Graviano
Giuseppe Graviano (Palermo,
September 30 ,1963 ) is an Italian mafioso from theBrancaccio quarter inPalermo . He is currently serving several life sentences.The brothers Giuseppe and
Filippo Graviano became members of theSicilian Mafia Commission for theBrancaccio -Ciaculli mandamento, substitutingGiuseppe Lucchese who was in prison.it [http://www.capitanoultimo.it/d/antimafiadoc3.htm Ordinanza di custodia cautelare in carcere] , Tribunale di Caltanissetta, Ufficio del giudice per le indagini preliminari, April 11, 1994] As such they were among the Mafia bosses held responsible for the murders of the Antimafia judgesGiovanni Falcone andPaolo Borsellino .Mafia bomb attacks in 1993
After the arrest of Mafia boss
Totò Riina in January 1993, the remaining bosses, among them Giuseppe Graviano,Matteo Messina Denaro ,Giovanni Brusca ,Leoluca Bagarella ,Antonino Gioè andGioacchino La Barbera came together a few times (often in the Santa Flavia area inBagheria , on an estate owned by the mafiosoLeonardo Greco ). They decided on a strategy to force the Italian state to retreat. That resulted in a series of bomb attacks in 1993 in the Via dei Georgofili inFlorence , in Via Palestro inMilan and in the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano and Via San Teodoro inRome , which left 10 people dead and 93 injured as well as damage to centres of cultural heritage such as theUffizi Gallery.The Graviano brothers, including the eldest one
Benedetto Graviano were seen as the organizers of the operation, in particular to select the men who would carry out to bombings. [it [http://www.almanaccodeimisteri.info/autobombecronologia.htm Autobombe del 1993 cronologia dei principali avvenimenti] ] Giuseppe and Filippo Graviano both received a life sentence for the bombings. [it [http://www.repubblica.it/online/cronaca/riinadue/cassa/cassa.html Confermati gli ergastoli per le bombe del 1993] , La Repubblica, May 6, 2002]Murder of Antimafia priest
Giuseppe and Filippo Graviano ordered the murder of the Antimafia priest
Pino Puglisi onSeptember 15 ,1993 . Puglisi was the pastor of San Gaetano’s Parish in the rough Palermo neighborhood of Brancaccio, and spoke out against the Mafia. One of the hitmen who killed Puglisi,Salvatore Grigoli , later confessed and revealed the priest’s last words as his killers approached: “I’ve been expecting you.”Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano were arrested on
January 27 ,1994 , [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E7DC113DF930A15755C0A962958260 5 Held in Killing of Priest] , New York Times, June 23, 1994] and have been in prison since. They are convicted for the Mafia bombings in Florence and Rome in 1993 and ordering the killing ofPino Puglisi . The two jailed brothers managed to impregnate their wives despite harsh regulations forbidding conjugal visits. Investigators realised the two men had fathered children while behind bars when their wives came to visit with babies. They believe that the two men used couriers to smuggle out their sperm. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/despatches/59408.stm Mafia sperm mystery] , BBC News, February 23, 1998]Links with Berlusconi
According to the
pentito Antonino Giuffrè the Graviano brothers were the intermediairies between Cosa Nostra and former prime ministerSilvio Berlusconi . Cosa Nostra decided to back Berlusconi'sForza Italia party from its foundation in 1993, in exchange for help in resolving the mafia's judicial problems. The mafia turned to Forza Italia when its traditional contacts in the discredited Christian Democrat party proved unable to protect its members from the rigours of the law. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,853880,00.html Berlusconi implicated in deal with godfathers] , The Guardian, December 5, 2002] [it [http://www.repubblica.it/online/cronaca/giuffredue/verbale/verbale.html Giuffré: il boss Graviano era il tramite con Berlusconi] , La Repubblica, December 3, 2002]According to Giuffrè, the Graviano's treated directly with Berlusconi through the business-man Gianni Ienna, somewhere between September/October 1993. The alleged pact fell apart in 2002. Cosa Nostra had achieved nothing. There were no revisions of Mafia trials, no changes in the law of asset seizures and no changes in the harsh
article 41-bis prison regime . [it [http://www.repubblica.it/online/cronaca/giuffredue/patto/patto.html Giuffrè, gli obiettivi della confessione] , La Repubblica, December 4, 2002]Sister takes over
While the two brothers serve their sentences, control of the Graviano-clan had passed to their sister,
Nunzia Graviano , known as "picciridda" (the baby), reinvesting the family's financial assets and modernising its business. "She is the alter ego of her brothers in their territory and capable of managing a vast fortune," according to the prosecution. She may be the first woman to have acted as "regent" for a leading Mafia family. She reportedly followed theMilan stock market on teletext and was an avid reader of the financial dailyIl Sole 24 Ore . Much of the Graviano's wealth was invested in Italian blue-chip companies. She was also laundering some of the money abroad through a financial consultancy inLuxemburg . Nunzia Graviano was arrested in July 1999 inNice (France). [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,282796,00.html Informer puts Mafia sister behind bars] , The Guardian, July 23, 1999] [it [http://www.repubblica.it/online/fatti/avvocati/avvocati/avvocati.html Palermo, in manette l'avvocato di Cosa Nostra] , La Repubblica, July 20, 1999]Brancaccio command
The third brother
Benedetto Graviano , who has served a five year sentence for Mafia conspiracy, has been arrested in July 2004 for cocaine trafficking. He allegedly financed 18 kilograms of cocaine in a joint venture with a'Ndrangheta clan. The cocaine was distributed among the jet set in Palermo. [it [http://droghe.aduc.it/php/articolo.php?id=11969 Anche un poliziotto tra gli arrestati dell'operazione sulla "Palermo bene"] , Notiziario Droghe, July 28, 2004] After his release for insufficient evidence, he was arrested again in February 2005. Benedetto Graviano had taken over the command in the Brancaccio area after the arrest of regentGiuseppe Guttadauro . The Mafia family of Santa Maria di Gesù had tried to take over the Brancaccio area, but Cosa Nostra’s bossBernardo Provenzano decided to re-instate the Graviano’s. [it [http://www.almanaccodeimisteri.info/mafia2005febbraio.htm Vecchie famiglie di nuovo a comando, 4 arrestati] , ANSA, February 22, 2005]Giuseppe Graviano recently gained an academic degree in mathematics and his brother Filippo in economics. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3221232.ece Mafia killers arm themselves with degrees] , The Times, January 21, 2008]
References
*cite book|last= Jamieson|first= Alison |year=2000|title=The Antimafia. Italy’s Fight Against Organized Crime|location=London|publisher= MacMillan Press |id=ISBN 0-333-80158-X
External links
* [http://www.angelfire.com/journal/puglisi/ Padre Puglisi e Brancaccio]
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