Vito Cascio Ferro
Vito Cascio Ferro (
1862 -
1943), known as Don Vito, was a prominent
Sicilian gangster who also operated for a time in the
United States, where he was a "pioneer" of sorts in the American
Mafia.
Cascio Ferro was born in
Palermo and worked in his early adulthood as a revenue collector, which provided a cover for his
protection racket. He traveled to
New York City in
1901, where he became associated with an extortion ring known as "La Mano Nera" (
The Black Hand). In 1903, he was arrested on suspicion of murder by
New York police officer
Giuseppe "Joe" Petrosino, a pioneer in fighting
organized crime. Cascio Ferro was acquitted, however, and returned to Sicily, where he became increasingly involved with the Sicilian Mafia. Petrosino was murdered in Sicily in 1909 while there on New York police business. Cascio Ferro was arrested for the murder but released after an associate provided an alibi; however, he later told other crime figures that he had killed Petrosino, a claim which helped propel him into the position of
capo di tutti capi (boss of bosses).
Cascio Ferro was arrested sixty-nine times for various crimes but always acquitted. After his seventieth arrest, however, he was convicted by
Benito Mussolini's anti-mob
prefect Cesare Mori and sentenced to fifty years in prison. Cascio Ferro was killed in 1943 during an
Allied air raid in Palermo while serving his sentence.
Marino, Giuseppe Carlo (2001).
I Padrini. Rome: Newton & Compton.
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Biography of Vito Cascio Ferro on Gangrule
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Mafia-International.com - Vito Cascio Ferro
