Word: pentiti
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Cosa Nostra?" his defense attorney, Franco Coppi, shouted to the Palermo courtroom. The 76-year-old Andreotti, a reputed crime-fighter who served as premier seven times, is the highest Italian official ever to be tried on mob charges. "Much of the testimony against Andreotti is supplied by pentiti -- repentant Mafiosi -- and 26 are scheduled to testify against him," Greg Burke reports from the trial. "There's considerable debate about how reliable the testimony of ex-Mafiosi is." To shore himself up, Burke adds, Andreotti wants to bring in former U.S. ambassadors to talk about his commitment in fighting...
...henchmen who specialized in murder and mayhem rather than the silkier arts of persuasion and blackmail once favored by the Mafia. Unlike tradition-bound gangsters who obeyed the vow of silence when arrested, some of these lieutenants cut deals with the law. Over the past year, 270 so-called pentiti provided unprecedented details of the Mob's workings and helped investigators tighten the net around its chief. According to some sources, the tip that led to Riina's arrest came from at least one such stool pigeon who put more faith in the authorities' promises than in Riina's forgiveness...
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