Giovanni Falcone Remembered at Supreme Court Ceremony

Justice Anthony Scalia: "Giovanni Falcone laid down his life"

Giovanni Falcone May 18, 1939 – May 23, 1992

Giovanni Falcone Remembered at FBI
20 Years After His Assassination by the Mafia

May 19, 2012 ~ The late Italian Magistrate Giovanni Falcone, was remembered at a ceremony held yesterday at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Falcone, who was assassinated by the Mafia 20 years ago, on May 23, 1992, forged a special relationship with the FBI through the prosecution of two major cases against the Mafia. in the U.S. and Italy "at a time when the Mafia was powerful in both places," noted the FBI. Louis Freeh, a federal prosecutor in New York City who would later become Director of the FBI, was cracking down on the Mafia. In a case known as the Pizza Connection, the FBI, the NYPD, and federal prosecutors teamed with Falcone and Italian authorities to bust an international heroin smuggling ring that laundered drug money through pizza parlors. The 1985 trial cemented Freeh and Falcone's personal and professional relationships. At the same time in Italy, Falcone was prosecuting his own Mafia trial—the Maxi Trial—which put hundreds of mafiosi behind bars.

In his remarks Free remembered that although Falcone's life was under constant threat, he always felt safe in the U.S. surrounded by his American law enforcement colleagues. "He loved the FBI," Freeh said, adding that the Mafia made a "serious miscalculation" by killing Falcone. Instead of intimidating the Italian police, they—and the FBI—"rallied to the investigation of his murder."

Robert Mueller, the current Director of the FBI, who praised Falcone's lasting contributions to fighting organized crime and global law enforcement, said it best when he remarked that Falcone "st forth countless riples of hope that justice and the rule of law would one day prevail against crime and terrorism."

|CiaoAmerica.net|