Felice Maniero (born September 2, 1954) is a former Italian crime boss who was the head of the
Mala del Brenta
The Nuova Mala del Brenta (NMB), also known as New Brenta Mafia or Venetian Mafia, is a criminal organization based in the Veneto region of Italy. The group is believed to have emerged in the late 1990s as a successor to the original Mala del Br ...
, a criminal organisation based in the region of
Veneto
Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...
throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His nickname is ''Faccia d'Angelo'' ("Angel Face"), which he shares with the
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
ese mobster
Francis Turatello
Francesco Turatello (Asiago, 1944 – Nuoro, August 17, 1981) was an important Italian crime figure and mob boss who operated during the 1970s and early 1980s mainly in the city of Milan. He was popularly known by his pseudonym Francis Turat ...
,
boss
Edoardo Contini and
Teo Pollastrini. He was born in
Campolongo Maggiore, in the
province of Venice
The province of Venice () was a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Venice.
It had an area of 2,467 km2, and a total population of 836,916 (2021). The province became the Metropolitan City of Venice by 1 Janu ...
. Originally the leader of a small band of thieves, through connections with
Sicilian mafiosi
Sicilian refers to the Italian island of Sicily.
Sicilian can also refer to:
* Sicilian language, a Romance language spoken on the island of Sicily, its satellite islands, and southern Calabria
* Sicilians, people from or with origins in Sicily
* ...
in exile in Veneto he was able to expand and enlarge his organization and modeled it after the mafia. He was a prolific drug trafficker and was particularly notorious for taking part in many
armed robberies
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
, some with extremely high loots.
In February, 1995, Maniero became a
pentito
''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...
(collaborator with Italian Justice), and subsequently helped in dismantling his organization. However, Maniero allegedly continued a number of criminal activities while many of his former henchmen re-organised the Mala del Brenta in order to ensure its survival.
On 23 August 2010, Maniero was set free.
Notes
References
*Dianese, Maurizio (1995). ''Il bandito Felice Maniero'', il Cardo editore, Venice.
*Guerretta, Danilo; Zornetta, Monica (2006). ''A casa nostra. Cinquant'anni di mafia e criminalità in Veneto'', Dalai Editore, Milan.
*Zornetta, Monica (2013). ''La resa. Ascesa, declino e «pentimento» di Felice Maniero'', Baldini & Castoldi, Milan.
External links
A fan site dedicated to the criminal personality of Felice ManieroProfile of Felice Maniero
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maniero, Felice
1954 births
Living people
People from the Metropolitan City of Venice
Italian gangsters
Pentiti