Editing Tommaso Buscetta

{{Short description|Sicilian Mafia boss and government informant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name               = Tommaso Buscetta
| image_name         = Tommaso_Buscetta_young.jpg
| image_caption      = Tommaso Buscetta in an undated photograph
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1928|7|13|df=y}} 
| birth_place        = [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], Kingdom of Italy
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2000|4|2|1928|7|13|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Florida]], United States
| conviction         = [[Drug trafficking]] (1972)
| conviction_penalty = 10 years imprisonment; reduced to eight years on appeal
| occupation         = [[Mobster]]
| other_names        = "The Boss of Two Worlds"<ref name="autogenerato2">{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/09/30/don-masino-boss-dei-due-mondi-cosi.html|title=DON MASINO BOSS DEI DUE MONDI COSI' LO CHIAMAVA LA MALAVITA - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=30 September 1984 |language=it}}</ref><br>"Don Masino"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/07/18/sono-don-masino-non-dico-altro.html|title=Sono Don Masino, non dico altro|publisher=La Repubblica|date=18 July 1984|language=it}}</ref>
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Melchiorra Cavallaro|1944}}
* {{marriage|Vera Girotti|1966}}
* {{marriage|Cristina De Almeida Guimarães|1968}}
}}
| children           = 8
| allegiance         = [[Sicilian Mafia]]
}}

'''Tommaso Buscetta''' ({{IPA|it|tomˈmaːzo buʃˈʃetta}}; 13 July 1928 – 2 April 2000) was a high-ranking Italian [[mobster]] and a member of the [[Sicilian Mafia]]. He became one of the first of its members to turn [[informant]] and explain the inner workings of the organization.

Buscetta participated in criminal activity in Italy, the [[United States]] and [[Brazil]] before being arrested and [[extradited]] from Brazil to Italy. He became disillusioned with the Mafia after the murders of several of his family members, and in 1984, decided to cooperate with the authorities. He provided important testimony at the 1986/87 [[Maxi Trial]], the largest anti-Mafia trial in history. After the murder of the judges [[Giovanni Falcone]] and [[Paolo Borsellino]], Buscetta gave further testimony to the [[Antimafia Commission]] linking Italian politicians to the Mafia. Buscetta entered the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|Witness Protection Program]] in the United States, where he remained until his death in 2000.

==Early life==
Tommaso Buscetta was born on 13 July 1928, in [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], the youngest of 17 children; his father was a [[glazier]].<ref name="death">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/06/world/tommaso-buscetta-71-dies-first-italian-mafia-informer.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326101033/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/06/world/tommaso-buscetta-71-dies-first-italian-mafia-informer.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 26, 2014|title=Tommaso Buscetta, 71, Dies; First Italian Mafia Informer - New York Times|website=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 26, 2014}}</ref> Buscetta was raised in [[Kalsa]],<ref name="Zuliani">{{cite web |last1=Zuliani |first1=Nicolò |title=Due granchi, la piovra e un pacchetto di sigarette |url=https://thevision.com/cultura/falcone-borsellino-buscetta/ |website=The Vision |access-date=22 December 2020 |language=it-IT |date=11 June 2018}}</ref> a poverty-stricken area of Palermo, which he escaped by getting involved with crime at a young age. He first became involved with the [[Sicilian Mafia]] in 1945, and in the following years, he became a full-fledged member of the [[Porta Nuova (Palermo)|Porta Nuova]] [[mandamento (Sicilian Mafia)|mandamento]], where he worked mostly in [[cigarette smuggling]].

Buscetta married his first wife Melchiorra Cavallaro in 1944 and had three children. In 1949, he moved to Argentina and then to Brazil, where he opened a glassworks store, but in 1956, he returned to Palermo where he joined [[Angelo La Barbera]] and [[Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco]] together with mafiosi Antonino Sorci, Pietro Davì and [[Gaetano Badalamenti]], dealing with the cigarette and drug smuggling.<ref name="archiviolatorre_1">{{Cite web|url=http://archiviopiolatorre.camera.it/img-repo/DOCUMENTAZIONE/Antimafia/02_rel_a1.pdf|title=Sintesi delle conclusioni del comitato per le indagini sui singoli mafiosi, sul traffico di stupefacenti e sul legame tra fenomeno mafioso e gangsterismo americano|publisher=Documenti della Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia - VI LEGISLATURA|language=it}}</ref> He married his second wife Vera Girotti in 1966 and had one child. Two years later, he married his third wife Cristina De Almeida Guimarães after moving to Brazil, and had four children.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1993/11/18/don-masino-il-conquistatore.html|title=DON MASINO IL CONQUISTATORE - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=18 November 1993 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1986/11/12/don-masino-odioso-canterino.html|title=DON MASINO L' ODIOSO CANTERINO - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=12 November 1986|language=it}}</ref> In 1958 he was arrested for cigarette smuggling and criminal association during an investigation conducted by the [[Guardia di Finanza]] against the [[Corsicans|Corsican]] Pascal Molinelli and the [[Tangier|Tangerian]] Salomon Gozal, indicated as major suppliers of cigarettes and drugs for the Sicilian gangs. In January 1959 he was arrested again for the smuggling of two tons of cigarettes to supply [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]].<ref name="archiviolatorre_2">{{Cite web|url=http://archiviopiolatorre.camera.it/img-repo/DOCUMENTAZIONE/Antimafia/02_rel_4.pdf|title=La nuova mafia|publisher=Documenti della Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia - VI LEGISLATURA|language=it}}</ref>

==First arrest==
After the [[Ciaculli Massacre]] in 1963, part of an internal Mafia conflict known as the [[First Mafia War]], he was wanted by the police. Buscetta fled to Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, and finally, the United States.<ref name="autogenerato1">[http://www.piolatorre.it/public/a_sud_europa/a_sud_europa_anno-7_n-26.pdf Tratto da "ASud'Europa", settimanale realizzato dal Centro di Studi e iniziative culturali “Pio La Torre”]</ref> In 1968, Buscetta was convicted ''[[Trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' by an Italian court of two [[murder]]s related to the Ciaculli Massacre.<ref name=inc>{{cite book |author1=Andre Cedilot|author2=Andre Noel|date=2010 |title=Mafia Inc. |location=Toronto |publisher=Vintage Canada |isbn=978-0-307-36041-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q7qlDG1KaiAC&q=1968+Buscetta+double+murder&pg=PA89}}</ref>

On 25 August 1970, Buscetta was arrested in [[Brooklyn]], New York, but was released on 4 December 1970.<ref name=firstarrest>{{Cite news|url=http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg14/lavori/documentiparlamentari/indiceetesti/023/016t02_RS/00000036.pdf|title=Senato della Repubblica XIV LEGISLATURA Documenti|language=it}}</ref> On 21 July 1971, an arrest warrant was issued by Italian police.<ref name=firstarrest/> Buscetta moved to [[Brazil]], having undergone [[plastic surgery]] and vocal cord surgery,<ref name="autogenerato2"/> he set up a [[drug trafficking]] network, but on 3 November 1972, was arrested by the [[Brazilian military government]], and subsequently extradited to Italy exactly one month later where he began a ten-year sentence at Palermo's Ucciardone prison for drug trafficking, reduced to eight years after appeal.<ref name=firstarrest/><ref name="autogenerato2"/> He was later transferred to the Le Nuove prison in [[Turin]].<ref name="autogenerato2"/>

==Second arrest==
In February 1980, he was granted "half-freedom", immediately fleeing back to Brazil to escape the brewing [[Second Mafia War]] instigated by [[Salvatore Riina]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/10/03/leggio-spacco-in-due-cosa-nostra.html|title=E LEGGIO SPACCO' IN DUE COSA NOSTRA - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=3 October 1984 |language=it}}</ref> On 11 September 1982, Buscetta's two sons from his first wife, Benedetto and Antonio, disappeared, [[Lupara bianca|never to be found again]], which prompted his collaboration with Italian authorities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.palermotoday.it/blog/amarcord1983/buscetta-morte-figli-antonio-benedetto.html|title=L'11 settembre della mafia palermitana: la tragica fine dei figli di Buscetta|date=11 September 2019|publisher=palermotoday.it|language=it}}</ref> This was followed by the deaths of his brother Vincenzo, son-in-law Giuseppe Genova, brother-in-law Pietro and four of his nephews, Domenico and Benedetto Buscetta, and Orazio and Antonio D'Amico.<ref name="autogenerato4">{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/07/17/un-impero-basato-sulla-cocaina-che-gestiva.html|title=UN IMPERO BASATO SULLA COCAINA CHE GESTIVA COME UN MANAGER - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=17 July 1984 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1995/03/07/giustiziato-il-nipote-di-buscetta.html|title=GIUSTIZIATO IL NIPOTE DI BUSCETTA - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=7 March 1995 |language=it}}</ref> The war subsequently led to the deaths of many of Buscetta's allies, including [[Stefano Bontade]]. Buscetta was arrested again in [[São Paulo]], Brazil on 23 October 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uonna.it/impastato-cronologia.htm|title=impastato-cronologia le vicende del processo|website=www.uonna.it}}</ref> He was extradited to Italy on 28 June 1984,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/06/28/il-brasile-ha-concesso-estradizione-tommaso.html|title=IL BRASILE HA CONCESSO L' ESTRADIZIONE TOMMASO BUSCETTA PRESTO IN ITAL - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=28 June 1984 |language=it}}</ref> where he attempted [[suicide]] by ingestion of [[barbiturates]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/07/15/forse-gia-domani-tommaso-buscetta-arriva-in.html|title=FORSE GIA' DOMANI TOMMASO BUSCETTA ARRIVA IN ITALIA - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=15 July 1984 |language=it}}</ref> when that failed, he decided that he was utterly disillusioned with the Mafia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/10/02/buscetta-ci-disse-non-sono-un-nemico.html|title=BUSCETTA CI DISSE: 'NON SONO UN NEMICO' - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=2 October 1984 |language=it}}</ref> Buscetta asked to talk to the anti-Mafia judge [[Giovanni Falcone]], and began his life as an informant, referred to as a ''[[pentito]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1984/07/18/sono-don-masino-non-dico-altro.html|title='SONO DON MASINO. NON DICO ALTRO...' - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=18 July 1984 |language=it}}</ref>

==''Pentito''==
[[Image:Tommaso Buscetta.jpg|left|thumb|Buscetta (in sunglasses) is led into court at the [[Maxi Trial]], circa 1986.]]

Buscetta revealed information to Falcone for 45 days,<ref name="death"/> explaining the inner workings and hierarchical structures of [[Cosa Nostra]] including the [[Sicilian Mafia Commission]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archivio.lastampa.it/LaStampaArchivio/main/History/tmpl_viewObj.jsp?objid=894340 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2019-09-23 |archive-date=2013-04-03 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130403031311/http://archivio.lastampa.it/LaStampaArchivio/main/History/tmpl_viewObj.jsp?objid=894340 |url-status=dead }}</ref> that, until then, were unclear because of the strict [[Omertà|code of silence]]. This became known as the "Buscetta theorem".<ref name=theorem>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/17/world/338-guilty-in-sicily-in-a-mafia-trial-19-get-life-terms.html|title=338 GUILTY IN SICILY IN A MAFIA TRIAL; 19 GET LIFE TERMS|date=17 December 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> He also revealed [[Mafia initiation ritual]]s.<ref name="Lubasch, Arnold H 1985">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/30/nyregion/admitted-member-of-mafia-tells-of-oath-and-deadly-punishment.html|author=Lubasch, Arnold H.|title=Admitted Member of Mafia Tells of Oath and Deadly Punishment.|work=The New York Times|date=October 30, 1985}}</ref> Buscetta refused to speak with Falcone of the political ties of Cosa Nostra because, in his opinion, the state was not ready for statements of that magnitude, and proved to be quite general on that subject.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1992/10/22/in-nome-di-falcone-buscetta-ha.html|title=E IN NOME DI FALCONE BUSCETTA HA ROTTO IL SILENZIO SUI POLITICI - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=22 October 1992 |language=it}}</ref>

In December 1984, he was extradited to the United States where he received a new identity from the government and American citizenship and was placed in the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|Witness Protection Program]] in exchange for new revelations against the [[American Mafia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1992/05/26/buscetta-onore-al-grande-ex-nemico.html|title=BUSCETTA: ' ONORE AL GRANDE EX NEMICO' - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=26 May 1992 |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1985/11/15/cittadinanza-americana-al-pentito-buscetta.html|title=CITTADINANZA AMERICANA AL PENTITO BUSCETTA - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=15 November 1985 |language=it}}</ref> He testified in the [[Pizza Connection Trial]], which took place in 1985 in New York and saw defendants [[Gaetano Badalamenti]] and other Sicilian-American mafiosi accused of drug trafficking.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1987/03/04/la-fine-di-pizza-connection.html|title=LA FINE DI ' PIZZA CONNECTION' - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=4 March 1987 }}</ref> He also testified in 1986 at the largest trial against the Mafia in history, the [[Maxi Trial]] in Palermo, arising from the statements made to Falcone.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1986/02/08/vecchi-nuovi-pezzi-da-novanta.html|title=VECCHI E NUOVI PEZZI DA NOVANTA - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=8 February 1986 |language=it}}</ref> Buscetta helped judges Falcone and [[Paolo Borsellino]] achieve significant success in the fight against [[organized crime]], which led to 475 Mafia members indicted and 338 convicted; those sentences were upheld in 1992.<ref name=theorem/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1987/12/17/giudici-hanno-creduto-buscetta.html|title=I GIUDICI HANNO CREDUTO A BUSCETTA|publisher=repubblica.it|date=17 December 1987|language=Italian}}</ref>

In mid-1992, following the bomb attacks in which Falcone and Borsellino were killed, Buscetta began to speak of the political ties of the Cosa Nostra with magistrates, accusing [[Salvo Lima]], killed a few months earlier, and [[Giulio Andreotti]] of being the main political referents of the organization; in particular, he reported that he had known Lima personally since the late 1950s, and had met him last in 1980, and also reported that he had learned that the murder of the journalist [[Mino Pecorelli]] in 1979 would have been carried out in Andreotti's interest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1995/04/25/la-verita-di-buscetta-lima-gli.html|title=- la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://legxiv.camera.it/_dati/leg14/lavori/documentiparlamentari/indiceetesti/023/016t02_RS/00000056.pdf|title=Senato della Repubblica XIV LEGISLATURA Documenti|access-date=2019-01-23|archive-date=2013-03-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313021321/http://legxiv.camera.it/_dati/leg14/lavori/documentiparlamentari/indiceetesti/023/016t02_RS/00000056.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Buscetta was one of the main witnesses of the trials against Andreotti for mafia association and for the Pecorelli murder.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1996/09/08/buscetta-al-processo-pecorelli.html|title=BUSCETTA AL PROCESSO PECORELLI - la Repubblica.it|website=Archivio - la Repubblica.it|date=8 September 1996 |language=it}}</ref> Andreotti was eventually acquitted in 1999 of the charge of having commissioned the assassination of Pecorelli.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/25/world/ex-premier-andreotti-acquitted-of-mafia-murder-conspiracy.html |title=Ex-Premier Andreotti Acquitted of Mafia Murder Conspiracy |first=Alessandra |last=Stanley |date=25 September 1999 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In court, Buscetta also elaborated in great detail the hidden exchanges that linked politicians and the Mafia. He stated: 
<blockquote>It is not Cosa Nostra that contacts the politician; instead a member of the Cosa Nostra says, that president is mine (è cosa mia), and if you need a favor, you must go through me. In other words, the Cosa Nostra figure maintains a sort of monopoly on that politician. Every family head in the Mafia selects a man whose characteristics already make him look approachable. Forget the idea that some pact is reached first. On the contrary, one goes to that candidate and says, "Onorevole, I can do this and that for you now, and we hope that when you are elected you will remember us". The candidate wins and he has to pay something back. You tell him, "We need this, will you do it or not?". The politician understands immediately and acts always.<ref name="Vannucci">[[Donatella Della Porta]], Alberto Vannucci, ''Corrupt Exchanges'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=M0dy9Vi0JSEC&pg=PA222&dq=Carmine+Alfieri&ei=aDGoSKymCIGgsgPFmdXiAQ&sig=ACfU3U2ms92JGLMXM7npJtsO8o50iAGzzQ#PPA221,M1, Google Print, p. 221].</ref></blockquote>

During a trial in 1993, the Mafia member [[Salvatore Cancemi]] confessed to Buscetta that he had [[strangled]] two of Buscetta's sons to death. After the trial, Buscetta embraced Cancemi and said: "You could not refuse the order. I forgive you because I know what it means to be in Cosa Nostra."<ref name=dickie1>Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', pp. 416-17</ref>

==Death==
Buscetta died of cancer on 2 April 2000, aged 71, having lived out most of his life in hiding with his third wife and family in Florida, United States, under false names.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/first-they-ll-try-to-kill-me-then-it-ll-be-your-turn-warned-the-mobster-turncoat-1.262672|title='First, they'll try to kill me, then it'll be your turn,' warned the mobster turncoat|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/713538.stm|title=BBC News &#124; FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT &#124; Mafia supergrass who escaped revenge|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> He was buried under a false name in [[North Miami, Florida]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/arts/television/tommaso-buscetta-our-godfather.html|title=They Hid From the Mob for Decades. Now They Will Surface in a Film.|first=Charles V.|last=Bagli|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 12, 2019}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
He was played by [[F. Murray Abraham]] in the 1999 film ''[[Excellent Cadavers (film)|Excellent Cadavers]]''. He was played by [[Vincent Riotta]] in the 2007 mini-series ''[[Il Capo dei Capi]]''. He was portrayed by Sergio Vespertino in the 2016 Italian TV series ''[[The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (TV series)|The Mafia Kills Only in Summer]]''. He was portrayed by [[Pierfrancesco Favino]] in the 2019 film ''[[The Traitor (2019 film)|The Traitor]]'', directed by [[Marco Bellocchio]] and selected to compete for the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[2019 Cannes Film Festival]]. Also released in 2019, ''Our Godfather'' is a documentary by Mark Franchetti and Andrew Meier which includes onscreen testimony by Buscetta's third wife and surviving children "who still live in anonymity because of fear of reprisal", according to one review.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/godfather-1210572|title='Our Godfather': Film Review|date=May 14, 2019|publisher=hollywoodreporter.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Dickie, John (2004). ''Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia'', London: Coronet, {{ISBN|0-340-82435-2}}
* Jamieson, Alison (2000). ''The Antimafia. Italy’s Fight Against Organized Crime'', London: MacMillan Press {{ISBN|0-333-80158-X}}
* [[Alexander Stille|Stille, Alexander]] (1995). ''Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', New York: Vintage {{ISBN|0-09-959491-9}}

== External links ==
* {{C-SPAN|11003}}
* {{OL author}}

{{Mafia|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buscetta, Tommaso}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Florida]]
[[Category:Italian drug traffickers]]
[[Category:Italian people convicted of drug offenses]]
[[Category:Italian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Pentiti]]
[[Category:Gangsters from Palermo]]
[[Category:People who entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program]]
[[Category:Sicilian mafiosi]]
[[Category:Italian exiles]]
[[Category:People extradited to Italy]]
[[Category:People extradited from Brazil]]