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Tuesday March 4, 2008

Giuseppe 2: Corleone shuns Mafia man

When the 28-year-old son of the Sicilian Mafia's most brutal godfather, Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, was suddenly released from jail on a technicality last week, he called his mother to take him home to Corleone where he expected a hero's welcome. Instead, the town leaders asked Giuseppe Riina (pictured) to leave.

Mayor Antonio Iannazzo insisted that Corleone, famous for its associations with The Godfather films, had changed during Giuseppe's six years inside and the people wanted nothing more to do with the Cosa Nostra. "We don't want him here," Iannazzo said. "Corleone does not forgive him and wants to push on with the process of change."

Giuseppe, whose father has been in jail since 1993, serving 12 life sentences for murder, was set free because his trial took too long. He was arrested in 2002 for extortion, money laundering and Mafia membership. Under European law, after six years in custody without a definitive sentence being set, he was entitled to his freedom.

Whether the town of Corleone is truly free from Mafia influence is debatable. But while Giuseppe has been away two godfathers who succeeded his father have been arrested - Bernardo Provenzano in 2006 and Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007.

Under the terms of his release, Giuseppe must sign in with the Corleone police three times a week and stay at home between 8pm and 7am. If he refuses to leave town, and attempts to rebuild his father's 'business' as some fear, he won't have much to work with. Toto's properties in and around Corleone have been seized and turned into a school, an office for the tax police and even a bed and breakfast.

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The real godfather - behind bars More
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