Giacomo Tinervia, mayor of the Sicilian town of Montelepre, was arrested along with 36 other Mafia conspirators in what prosecutors are calling one of the most significant raids of the Mafia in years.
Prosecutors detailed what they called “two local governments” with one elected by voters and the other controlled by the Mafia. Tinervia was implicated after prosecutors listened to wiretaps between the Mayor and a crime boss and they discussed a bribe associated with opening a new gym. The mayor also faces charges of accepting a 7,000 Euro bribe.
Local Mafia operations resulted from the allying of two Mafia clans under a central leader. Last time Montelepre was home to major organized crime of a similar scale was the 1940s, when it became famous for the “Robin Hood” bandits and home to their leader.
The Mafia represents about 10 percent of Italy’s GDP, and accounts for roughly $151 billion in annual income.
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