The Pizza Connection Trial (in full, ''United States v. Badalamenti et al.'') was a criminal trial against the Sicilian and American

mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

s that took place before the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of the State of New York. Two of these are in New York Ci ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, U.S. The trial centered on a number of independently owned pizza parlor fronts used to distribute drugs, which had imported US$1.65 billion of heroin from Southwest Asia to the United States between 1975 and 1984.Gaetano Badalamenti, 80; Led Pizza Connection Ring
The New York Times (Obituary), May 3, 2004 The trial lasted from September 30, 1985, to March 2, 1987, ending with 18 convictions, with sentences handed down on June 22, 1987. Lasting about 17 months, it was the longest trial in the judicial history of the United States.

Background

In the second half of the 1970s, the

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

mafiosi Nunzio La Mattina, Tommaso Spadaro and Giuseppe Savoca purchased large quantities of morphine in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

from the Turkish trafficker Yasar Avni Musullulu on behalf of the other Mafia families and transported it, by sea or by land, to

and the surrounding area, where numerous illegal heroin refineries common to all the families were active. In 1980 the investigators discovered for the first time one refinery in the Piraineto district of Punta Raisi and another in Trabia, managed by the mafioso Gerlando Alberti, who was arrested together with three chemists from

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

who worked for him. In 1982 another refinery was discovered, in Palermo, in via Messina Marine, managed by the mafioso Pietro Vernengo. The trial centered on a Mafia-run enterprise that involved processing heroin from Sicily, morphine purchased from Turkey and Southwest Asia, and cocaine from South America, for final distribution of the drugs in the United States through independently owned pizza parlor fronts as the money was laundered through several banks and brokerages in the United States and overseas. The enterprise was estimated to have imported US$1.65 billion of heroin to the United States, namely the Northeast and the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, between 1975 and 1984. For about a year, the prosecution, consisting of Richard A. Martin, Louis J. Freeh, Robert Stewart, Robert B. Bucknam and Andrew C. McCarthy, gathered hundreds of witnesses,

wiretap Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

s, and thousands of documents, which cost several million dollars to complete. Arrests of conspirators were coordinated in the United States, Italy, Switzerland and Spain on April 8, 1984, following the capture of

Gaetano Badalamenti Gaetano Badalamenti (; 14 September 1923 – 29 April 2004) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. ''Don Tano'' Badalamenti was the capofamiglia of his hometown Cinisi, Sicily, and headed the Sicilian Mafia Commission in the 1970s. In 1 ...

and his son Vito Badalamenti together with Pietro Alfano in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Spain; on November 15, they were extradited to the United States. Badalamenti was formerly on the Sicilian Mafia Commission.Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 337-38 A day later, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

arrested nearly 30 people in New York City, seizing weapons and drugs. One of these witnesses was Sicilian Mafia

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 ...

Tommaso Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta (; 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 p ...

, who had already revealed information to Italian magistrate

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

to prepare for the

Maxi Trial The Maxi Trial () was a criminal trial against the Sicilian Mafia that took place in Palermo, Sicily. The trial lasted from 10 February 1986 (the first day of the Corte d'Assise) to 30 January 1992 (the final day of the Supreme Court of Cassati ...

. In December 1984, Buscetta was extradited to the United States where he received a new identity from the government, American citizenship and placement in the

Witness Protection Program Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after trials, usually by police. While witnesses may only require p ...

in exchange for new revelations against the American Mafia in the Pizza Connection Trial. Another witness was Sicilian Mafia pentito Salvatore Contorno, who followed the example of Buscetta, and began collaborating in October 1984, and also testified at the Maxi Trial.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 147Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', pp. 130-32Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 290 Former

undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone, who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family between 1976 and 1981 using the alias "Donnie Brasco", also testified at the trial.

Trial

Defendants

Out of those arrested, 22 Sicilian-born defendants stood in the trial that began on September 30, 1985: *

*Salvatore Catalano *Joseph Lamberti *Salvatore Mazzurco *Salvatore Lamberti *Giovanni Ligammari * Baldassare Amato *Vincenzo Randazzo *Pietro Alfano *Emmanuele Palazzolo *Samuel Evola * Vito Badalamenti *Giuseppe Trupiano *Giuseppe Vitale *Lorenzo DeVardo *Giovanni Cangialosi *Salvatore Salamone *Salvatore Greco *Frank Castronovo *Gaetano Mazzara *Francesco Polizzi *Filippo Casamento

Developments

Buscetta provided no direct connection between the defendants and drugs. Contorno testified that defendant Frank Castronovo, cousin of Carlo Castronovo in Sicily, used pizza parlors as fronts in the United States. Contorno also testified that he had a meeting in 1980 in Bagheria about heroin and had seen Castronovo there with three other defendants—Salvatore Catalano, Gaetano Mazzara, and Salvatore Greco. Pistone testified that he was told that a Bonanno faction headed by Dominick Napolitano had formed an alliance with a Sicilian faction, which involved Salvatore Catalano.

Verdicts

Over the course of the trial, Gaetano Mazzara was murdered and Pietro Alfano was seriously wounded, and on March2, 1987, two of the 22 men pleaded guilty to lesser currency violations, while 18 of the remaining 19 defendants were convicted of running an international drug ring. Vito Badalamenti was the only defendant acquitted.Acquitted in 'Pizza Connection' Trial, Man Remains in Prison
, The New York Times, July 28, 1988 Sentences were handed down by judge Pierre Leval on June22, 1987. Five of the defendants were sentenced to 45 years in prison, while the 13 other defendants faced maximum sentences of between 15 and 40 years in prison for their convictions on charges of participating in the drug conspiracy. Gaetano Badalamenti was sentenced to 45years in prison and fined $125,000, and since he was extradited from Spain with the provision that he serve no more than 30years, he was ordered to be released after 30years should he live that long. Salvatore Catalano was also sentenced to 45years in prison but fined $1.15million (equivalent to $million in ) and ordered to pay $1million (equivalent to $million in ) in restitution; Salvatore Mazzurco was sentenced to 35years in prison, fined $50,000 (), and ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution (); Salvatore Lamberti was sentenced to 20years in prison, fined $50,000 (), and ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution (); and Giuseppe Lamberti was sentenced to 35years in prison, fined $150,000 (), and ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution ().

References

Bibliography

* * *
Decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, ''U.S. v. Casamento'', 887 F. 2d 1141 (2d Cir. 1989)
{{Mafia 20th-century American trials 1987 in New York City American Mafia events Bonanno crime family Drug rings History of the Sicilian Mafia Mafia trials Organized crime in New York City Pizza in New York City United States District Court for the Southern District of New York cases Trials in New York (state)