Editing Gerlando Alberti

[[File:Gerlando Alberti.JPG|thumb|267px|right]] 
Gerlando Alberti (September 18th, 1927 – February 1st, 2012) was a meber of the [[Mafia]] He belonged to the Porta Nuova family in [[Palermo]] headed by [[Giuseppe Calò]]. His nickname was "u Paccarè", the imperturbable one.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup>

Alberti was involved in numerous notorious Mafia events, such as the [[Ciaculli massacre]] in 1963, the [[Viale Lazio massacre]] in 1969, the disappearance of journalist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauro_De_Mauro Mauro De Mauro] in 1970, and the killing of Chief Prosecutor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Scaglione Pietro Scaglione] in 1971. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-farrel115_3-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-farrel115-3 [3]]</sup> He was one of the top mafiosi involved in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_smuggling cigarette smuggling] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin heroin] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade trafficking] in the 1970s. He once said of the Mafia: "Mafia! What is that? A kind of cheese?"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Scotsman.2C_January_31.2C_2004_4-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-Scotsman.2C_January_31.2C_2004-4 [4]]</sup>
==Early career==
Alberti was the son of a fruit seller and was born and grew up in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palermo Palermo], in the derelict district of [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danisinni&action=edit&redlink=1 Danisinni]. He was born at home; the midwife begged to be allowed to bring his mother to the front door because of the lack of daylight in the house. He only went to school for four years. Alberti was initiated in the Mafia by [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaetano_Filippone&action=edit&redlink=1 Gaetano Filippone]. His first test was to steal an entire cheese. In 1956 he was acquitted of a killing for lack of evidence.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-farrel115_3-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-farrel115-3 [3]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup>

In the 1950s and 1960s, Alberti was considered to be an upstart Mafia boss in the shadow of men like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Torretta Pietro Torretta], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommaso_Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta] and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_La_Barbera La Barbera brothers]. They formed the so-called "New Mafia", which adopted new gangster techniques. Those starting their careers in their shadow were forming into new generation of mafiosi; they had initiative, and the road to leadership of a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosca cosca] had suddenly become quicker and more readily available to those who were fast with their tommy-guns.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio179_6-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio179-6 [6]]</sup>

Alberti's official business was selling textiles, employing a squad of travelling salesmen, a wonderful cover for both his trafficking operations and smuggling jewels and works of art (he allegedly possessed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_with_St._Francis_and_St._Lawrence Caravaggio Nativity]<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-7 [7]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-8 [8]]</sup>). In 1961 he set up a textile trading business in Milan and formed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosca cosca] in Northern Italy, with bases in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoa Genoa] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-farrel115_3-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-farrel115-3 [3]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup>
==Mafia killer?==
Alberti was indicted in July 1963 with 53 other mafiosi after the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciaculli_massacre Ciaculli massacre], which turned the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Mafia_War First Mafia War] into a war against the Mafia. Together with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommaso_Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta], he was suspected of the attack against [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_La_Barbera Angelo La Barbera], one of the protagonists of the war, in Milan in May 1963. At the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_the_114 Trial of the 114]" he was acquitted but sent into internal exile in a village in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombardy Lombardy].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-2">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup> Alberti, although living in Milan, had been in Palermo at the time of the bomb attack in Ciaculli. Interrogated, he declared that he had been with a woman and could not reveal her name.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup>

In December 1969 he was again in Palermo (while he was supposed to be in exile) when Mafia boss [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Cavataio Michele Cavataio] was killed by a Mafia hit squad for his double-crossing role in the First Mafia War. At the time, the Carabinieri began to consider Alberti as the boss of a kind of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder,_Inc. Murder Incorporated] for the Sicilian [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosa_Nostra Cosa Nostra].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-farrel115_3-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-farrel115-3 [3]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-9 [9]]</sup>
==Rising star==
Alberti was one of the rising stars of the Mafia in the 1970s. He had a luxurious lifestyle with apartments in Milan and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples Naples], he owned a green [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maserati Maserati] and he and his men spent their evenings at nightclubs with expensive women.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-3">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup> His position was confirmed on June 17, 1970, when the traffic police in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan Milan] stopped an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo Alfa Romeo] for speeding. In the car were Alberti, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommaso_Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_%22Ciaschiteddu%22_Greco Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Badalamenti Gaetano Badalamenti] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Calderone Giuseppe Calderone]. Unaware of the identity of the men in the car the police let them continue their journey.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-shawcross88_10-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-shawcross88-10 [10]]</sup> At the time, they were involved in a series of meetings about the future of Cosa Nostra. They decided to set up a new [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia_Commission Sicilian Mafia Commission] (the first one was dissolved after the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciaculli_massacre Ciaculli massacre]) – initially headed by a triumvirate consisting of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Badalamenti Gaetano Badalamenti], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Bontade Stefano Bontade] and the Corleonesi boss [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Leggio Luciano Leggio].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-roth_11-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-roth-11 [11]]</sup>

On May 5, 1971, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietro_Scaglione Pietro Scaglione], Chief Prosecutor of Palermo, was killed with his driver Antonino Lo Russo. It was the first time since the end of World War II that the Mafia had carried out a hit on an Italian magistrate. The police rounded up 114 mafiosi who would be tried in the second "Trial of the 114". Scaglione was killed in the district under Alberti’s command. Alberti had arrived from Naples just before the attack and left immediately afterwards. A barman who had confirmed to the police that Alberti was in Palermo while Scaglione’s murder was taking place was kidnapped and killed.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup>

At the second "Trial of the 114" in 1974, Alberti was convicted and sentenced to six years. Sent to the island of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asinara Asinara], he escaped in June 1975, but was arrested again in December that year, hiding among Sicilians in Northern Italy.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-servadio230_5-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-servadio230-5 [5]]</sup> In October 1977 he became a fugitive again, when he was supposed to appear before a court in Naples charged with cigarette smuggling.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-4">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup>
==Heroin lab==
In March 1974, Alberti was charged in Rome with heroin trafficking as the result a 30 month investigation. The inquiry started in September 1971 when [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Customs US Customs] agents seized 84 kilos of heroin in a Ford that was sent from Genoa to New York. Alberti and [[Gaetano Badalamenti]] were considered to be among the bosses of the international ring.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-nyt290374_12-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-nyt290374-12 [12]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-13 [13]]</sup>

On August 25, 1980, two heroin-refining labs were discovered on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicily Sicily]; a small lab was discovered first in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabia Trabia] and later that day a bigger lab in uncovered in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carini Carini] that could produce 50 kilograms a week. Alberti was arrested with three [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsica Corsican] chemists in Trabia, among them [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andr%C3%A9_Bousquet&action=edit&redlink=1 André Bousquet] an old hand from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Connection French Connection] days, who was sent by Corsican gangster [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaetan_Zampa&action=edit&redlink=1 Gaetan Zampa].<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-5">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-14 [14]]</sup> On his arrest, Alberti asked, "Mafia! What is that? A kind of cheese?", denying any knowledge or association with the crime.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Scotsman.2C_January_31.2C_2004_4-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-Scotsman.2C_January_31.2C_2004-4 [4]]</sup>
==Attempt on life==
Alberti was considered to be part of a moderate wing at the start of the 1981-83 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Mafia_War Second Mafia War], allied with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaetano_Badalamenti Gaetano Badalamenti] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Bontade Stefano Bontade], against the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corleonesi Corleonesi] led by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tot%C3%B2_Riina Totò Riina]. He barely survived an attempt on his life while incarcerated in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ucciardone&action=edit&redlink=1 Ucciardone] prison on February 9, 1983. He received two sentences, one for the heroin lab in Trabia and one life sentence for the killing of a hotel owner who had tipped off the police about the lab.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lodato47_2-6">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-lodato47-2 [2]]</sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-15 [15]]</sup>

Due to his conviction and his links with the men on the losing side of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Mafia_War Second Mafia War], Alberti’s role in Cosa Nostra shrunk. On June 20, 2006, the aging Alberti was arrested again when authorities issued 52 arrest warrants against the top echelon of Cosa Nostra in the city of Palermo (Operation [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanach_de_Gotha Gotha]).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-piz_16-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-piz-16 [16]]</sup> Despite his life sentence he had obtained house arrest due to poor health. On January 21, 2008, the Palermo Court absolved Alberti in relation the Gotha investigation,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-rep210108_17-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-rep210108-17 [17]]</sup> but he received an 8 years and 5 months sentence in appeal.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-adn_18-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-adn-18 [18]]</sup>

He was arrested again on December 16, 2008, when the Carabinieri arrested 94 Mafiosi in [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Perseo&action=edit&redlink=1 Operation Perseo]. He was among the men that wanted to re-establish the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Mafia_Commission Sicilian Mafia Commission] that had not been functioning since the arrest of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tot%C3%B2_Riina Totò Riina] in 1993.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-rep_19-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-rep-19 [19]]</sup> In October 2010, he was sentenced to 6 years and 4 months.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-sic_20-0">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-sic-20 [20]]</sup> Due to his age and cancer he was put under house arrest. He died on February 1, 2012, in his house in the Porta Nuova district of Palermo.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-adn010212_1-1">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlando_Alberti#cite_note-adn010212-1 [1]]</sup>
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