Luigi Putrone

{{Short description|Member of the Sicilian Mafia}}

Image:Luigi Putrone.jpg

Luigi Putrone ({{IPA|it|luˈiːdʒi puˈtroːne}}; born September 8, 1960, in Porto Empedocle{{in lang|it}} [http://www.interno.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/sezioni/sala_stampa/notizie/polizia/app_notizia_17193.html?back=%2Ftools%2Fsearch%2Findex.html%3Ftext%3Dputrone%26start%3D%26end%3D%26type%3Dgeneric Direzione Centrale della Polizia Criminale - "Programma Speciale di Ricerca" - Putrone Luigi]) is a former Sicilian mafioso, considered to be head of a powerful Mafia clan based in Porto Empedocle, in the province of Agrigento.

He had been convicted in absentia to life in prison in July 2001 for a number of crimes committed in the 1980s and 1990s. In April 2004 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for extortion committed against Agrigento businessmen. He also was involved in the kidnapping and murder of the 13-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo the son of Santino Di Matteo, a collaborating state witness (pentito), to force him to retract his testimony. Giuseppe Di Matteo was tortured before being strangled and his body was dissolved in a barrel of acid to destroy the evidence.[http://www.thepraguepost.com/articles/2005/08/24/the-fugitive.php The fugitive: How a bloodthirsty Mafia boss spent years in hiding in the Czech Republic], The Prague Post, August 24, 2005{{in lang|it}} [http://www.corriere.it/cronache/08_novembre_10/di_matteo_mafia_b457bb48-af0c-11dd-bbcd-00144f02aabc.shtml La madre del bimbo sciolto nell'acido: «Giuseppe ha vinto, la mafia ha perso»], Corriere della Sera, November 10, 2008

On August 12, 2005, Putrone, one of the most wanted men in Italy, was arrested in Ústí nad Labem with him accomplice Frantisek Herm in the Czech Republic, some 100 kilometres north-west of Prague.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4145958.stm Czechs arrest Italian Mafia boss], BBC News, August 12, 2005[http://www.repubblica.it/2003/e/gallerie/cronaca/bossputrone/1.html?ref=search Putrone at his arrest (photos)], Repubblica.it{{in lang|it}} [http://www.rainews24.rai.it/it/news.php?newsid=56081 Mafia. Arrestato Luigi Putrone, boss latitante coinvolto nel sequestro del piccolo Di Matteo], RaiNews 24, August 12, 2005{{in lang|it}} [http://www.repubblica.it/2005/h/sezioni/cronaca/putrone/putrone/putrone.html Arrestato boss latitante da 7 anni: Fu carceriere del piccolo Di Matteo], La Repubblica, August 12, 2005

Putrone had probably been living in the Czech Republic for several years since going on the run in 1998. He appeared to be a local businessman, using a stolen Italian passport under the name Umberto Bonfiglio – a surname meaning "good son."

The Czech Republic extradited Luigi Putrone to Italy where he had been sentenced to life imprisonment for mafia conspiracy (associazione mafiosa) and murder. In September 2006, he decided to become a pentito.{{in lang|it}} [http://porto-empedocle.agrigentonotizie.it/cronaca/mafia-luigi-putrone-si-e-pentito_3183.php Mafia, Luigi Putrone si è pentito] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722023319/http://porto-empedocle.agrigentonotizie.it/cronaca/mafia-luigi-putrone-si-e-pentito_3183.php |date=2011-07-22 }}, Agrigentonotizie.it, September 27, 2006

In Italy the book "Addio Mafia", published by Fuoririga, had a great success, which contains a long interview with Luigi Putrone reached in a secret location. The book was written by the investigative journalist Gero Tedesco and his colleague Gerlando Cardinale.