Les repentis de la mafia : un pacte avec le diable ?

Enquête aux États-Unis et en Italie sur le système des repentis de la mafia. Qui sont ces hommes au passé trouble ?
Réalisateur : Gadh Charbit

We had been waiting for six months for the authorization from the Italian courts to interview a reformed mafia member. The meeting place has just been communicated to us. The repentant betrayed her clan to collaborate with the state. Even for the masked interviewer in this anonymous Interior Ministry building, the police will set rules for us. Very strict. You were allowed to interview the repentant Carmela Yuculano. And to do this interview, you have to comply with several rules which are written on this document which you have to sign. I will summarize them for you. You have to hide your face and change your voice. Because if someone recognizes her, you will put his life in danger. These rules must be strictly adhered to. Oh yes,
but… We will finally meet Carmela Yuculano. She was the wife and the accomplice… of a Sicilian mafia godfather. Their specialty? Rackets and drug trafficking. In 2004, she reports her husband to the courts. In exchange, she escapes from prison. The Italian state will also create a new identity for it. She will have to leave Sicily forever with her three children. The day I left, I remember it like it was yesterday. There were police cars everywhere. You’re gone forever. This is the last time you see your land. You’re suffocating. It really hurts a lot. I had to cut off all contact with my loved ones, my friends. That day, it was like i was dead. After this reason, Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia, sentenced her to death. Today, ten years later, she still lives hidden under the protection of the state, somewhere in Italy. I had to sign a kind of contract with the courts, with all the rules to follow. There are many. For example, my son does sports. If he has to play a match outside our city, we have to make a request. She is examined by the police officers in charge of our protection. And more often than not, they refuse you permission. Like Carmela Iupulano. There are 1,600 repentants in Italy. Former top-ranking criminals. They collaborate with justice. In the United States, there are 8,500 of them. Sometimes, when you hunt big game major criminals, you are forced to make a pact with the devil. This is often the only way to obtain incriminating testimony. But these people take risks because they testify against dangerous people. So to get their collaboration, We created a witness protection program. In 2015, France will implement this system of justice collaborators, this pact with the devil. An investigation into one of the most effective justice systems. and the most secret of the world, but also the most controversial. Our investigation begins in New York. We have an appointment with an FBI special agent. In the 1990s, he pulled off a masterstroke. He recruited the biggest criminal convict in American history. Good morning, we are shooting a documentary, can we go through there? Isn’t that a problem? In the late 80s, There were five major mafia families in New York that controlled most of the city. For example, Do you see all this cement around us? Each mafia family received a dollar for every cubic meter of concrete poured. They were rich, powerful and also very dangerous. In the FBI agent’s sights, a certain John Gotti. He is suspected of leading the most powerful New York mafia family and of having ordered numerous assassinations. But in these investigations, FBI agent runs into Omerta, to the wall of silence. It is the cement of the mafia. In the godfather’s entourage, no one speaks. People were afraid to speak out and collaborate with law enforcement against John Gauthier, because they were afraid of being killed. As a result, Gauthier kept provoking us. He was taunting us, seem to say You will never put me in jail, I am smarter than you Repeatedly, The godfather will be arrested and tried. But due to lack of evidence, he almost always gets away with it. In 1986, for his third trial, John Gauthier will even make the cover of the prestigious Thai magazine. But then again, Justice will not convince the jury of his guilt. With respect to the third indignation, the defendant charged with first degree assault, Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty? Not guilty. John Gautier will earn the nickname of Teflon godfather. The man over whom justice has no hold. His suits are tailor-made. He loves cameras. The cameras love it. He became a real star. For his part, The FBI agent does not despair. He continues to hunt down Gauthier, in New York. I spent my days driving around his neighborhood, with a camera and a camcorder. Whenever I saw him with someone, I took pictures and continued on my way. Gauthier and his gang are arrested. To escape prison, Samy the Bull, the faithful lieutenant, will rat out his boss. In 1992, Gauthier is finally sentenced to life in prison. Samy the Bull has become a repentant. Sammy Gravano’s testimony not only helped us imprison John Gotti, but also other mafia bosses. At the beginning, It was thought that only six would be convicted. In the end, We managed to have 38 of them imprisoned. In the 1990s, Sammy Gravano’s revelations will crush the New York mafia. In exchange for this information, He will only serve 5 years in prison despite having admitted to committing more than 19 murders. At the same time, 150 km from New York, another repents will bring down another mafia, the one in Philadelphia. John Vizzi was in charge of putting pressure on those who owed money to the mafia, intrusive, ultra-violent. Twenty years later, We found John Vizzi. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? The worst? When ? It depends on what you mean by worse. For someone with a drill, it’s not bad, No ? Or throwing acid in someone else’s face. Did you throw acid in someone’s face? Yes. For what ? Well, if i throw acid on an eye, you will lose sight in that eye. And then, if I put my hand on the second eye, there, you don’t see anything anymore. So I ask, where is the money? Where is the drug? Or will you never see your wife and children again? In general, guys answer you, It’s a pretty simple method. One day in 1993, for only $300, John Vizie is tasked with executing a member of a rival clan. The order comes from the local mafia godfather, John Stanfa. I got up in the morning, I went to work. We wanted, we saw the guy, I took the gun out the window, I killed him. I felt relieved, I felt good. I had done my duty. It’s like getting a bonus or having a child. One day like this, you still remember it. But it is not the same to kill or to have a child. What do you know about it? Have you ever killed anyone? I had a child and I can tell you it’s the same thing. In 1994, Fizzy is getting annoying. Godfather John Stampha puts a contract on his head. One evening, two men try to ambush him. He will receive four bullets, including three in the skull, fired at point-blank range. My skull was split open on the side. At that moment, I’m mad with rage. I know I’m going to die. I don’t think I’ll make it. But I wanted these two guys who left me for dead to say to themselves This asshole fought until the end John Vizzi then draws on his last strength. He punches his attackers and manages to escape. In the Little Italy neighborhood, this failed murder will fuel the legend of John Vesey among the local press. The fact that he was shot and managed to escape, it amplified the myth, the legend of John Vesey. He was the tough one, invincible, indestructible. We go low in the head and he manages to get out of it. John Vesey then had only one idea in mind. Take revenge. He will then make the most important decision of his life, swing his bumps. The only way to get revenge, it was to destroy them. Before, I destroyed people with a gun, a knife or a drill. There,
the only way I had, It was to turn to the State. In 1996, John Vizie officially becomes a repentant. In the mafia, we call it a rat. Balance, rat, traitor. There are plenty of names for people like me. But the criminals I served, They shot me. So is it better to be dead or to be a rat? Tell me. John Vizie escapes life in prison. and will only take ten years to remain. Thanks to his testimony, Godfather John Stanford is sentenced to life in prison. Vizy also denounces about twenty other Philadelphia mobsters. At the end of the trial, a certain Fatangelo, the king of clandestine betting, will be sentenced to 9 years. After serving his sentence, Fatangelo opened a restaurant in Philadelphia, the godfather’s kitchen. Don’t pay attention to the camera, They are making a documentary on the repentant system for French TV. France will have its own system of repentants. Oh, I don’t believe in that kind of thing. My motto, you commit a crime, you pay, be a man. Repentants like John Vizzi, Fatangelo, they hate. Do you know the real name of the repentant system? It’s an emergency exit for cowards When you join the mafia, you take an oath. You have to accept all the rules. There is no church, no priest to whom to say forgive me father, I committed 75 murders He would answer it doesn’t matter my son, you will recite hail mary and you will be forgiven It doesn’t work like that. On the wall, Fatangelo was depicted in a fresco, among his mafia heroes. Marlon Brando as Coppola’s godfather, Tony Soprano, Al Capone and John Gauthier. I,
I was taking clandestine bets. My God, what a crime! I aged 9 years! even though I have never been violent. Samy Lothoro and John Veazey, two assassins, only took 5 and 10 years, and me 9 years old. Tell me, where is the justice in that? This rage, Most of the criminals who were exposed share it. To escape the vengeance of the environment, The authorities must guarantee the safety of the repentant. To understand how they do it, heading to Washington. We have an appointment at the US Marshals headquarters. It is a federal agency with a secret branch that deals with protecting repentant criminals. Their method is radical. We,
the Marshals, We are particularly responsible for reinstalling repentant witnesses to give them a new identity and protect them. So we install them somewhere in the United States, under a new identity. For repentant witnesses, It is often the last chance to stay alive. If they did not fit into the protection program, Most of them would be murdered. When the repentant come out of prison, The marshals provide them with a complete kit to start their new life. New social security number, new birth certificate, new diploma, new passport. The Marshalls, helped by psychologists, lead repentant people to lie about their past. In order to never reveal where they come from, nor who they really were. So you’re creating a new past for them? That, It’s one of our secrets. Why is this program so secret? Because people’s lives depend on it. SO, their identity is kept secret, as well as the most important state secrets. We can’t take any risks. Upon his release from prison in 2005, John Vizie had secretly benefited from this romantic witness protection program. Today he brings us back to the hotel where the Marshalls had secured him while they created his new identity. They dropped me here. They gave me a key with a room number. I had nothing. No luggage, no clothes, just what I was wearing. Here, from my point of view, John Vizie is dead. He disappeared. The Marshalls give Vizie $6,000 for living expenses. In this 4-star hotel, The customers are mostly businessmen. The little Philadelphia killer just spent 10 years in prison. He is lost. There were all these rich people around me. It wasn’t my world. I didn’t have their vocabulary. I said Yo, what the fuck? The Marshalls must have thought it was a good idea to take me to a posh neighborhood. so that there is less chance that I will relapse. But at the same time, It’s twice as hard to integrate. It took them three months to give me a social security number, then they made me choose a name from the phone book. At the beginning, they gave me one, but I couldn’t write it. It was too hard, there were like 6-7 letters, and me, I already had trouble writing my real name, See. Eventually, The merchants gave it a four-letter name. For his safety, we have no right to reveal it. From, The repentant had to cut off all contact with his past. No one should know where he is. He is only allowed to call his family. And again. You can call every six months, every three months, once a month, if you behave well, but the Marshalls are listening to the conversation. You can’t say anything. If it snows, For example, you can’t say it, because your family might figure out where you are. How long have you not seen your loved ones? There,
I see them again a little, but for 15 or 16 years, I haven’t seen them. This solitude, This is the fate of all repentants. Like the Sicilian Carmela Iuccolano, resettled somewhere in northern Italy. What is the hardest thing for you? The hardest part, It’s not being able to tell your story to anyone. It’s very difficult. You can’t trust anyone. For example, I am a single woman. I could try to rebuild my life. But what am I going to tell a man? If at Christmas or on holidays, he never sees my family, like all normal people, What am I going to tell him? In the United States? John Vesey eventually grew tired of all these constraints. In the late 2000s, he left the repentant program and since then, he is no longer under the protection of the Marshalls. But for his safety, he got involved with a gang of crooks. Well,
they want to see your gun! That’s how we are here. It’s a Smith & Wesson. Why are you looking at me like that? It’s for protection. Is it dangerous here? You surprise me. John Vizie, he,
is not allowed to bear arms. If he breaks this rule, He will return to prison for 20 years. And you,
you have no accusation? I,
I don’t have any, look at. However, there,
you’re filming my ass. How do you protect yourself? SO ? It is protected, don’t worry. It is protected. They tried to kill me once before and it didn’t work. Maybe I’m fucked like a bulletproof vest. Are you shooting me? The next morning, I shit the ball on you. Since the creation of the Repentis program in the United States in 1970, The Marshalls resettled 8,500 criminals and 10,000 of their families. Officially, none were murdered. For the American authorities, the Repentants, It is the lethal weapon. Over the years, The Witness Protection Program has helped to effectively combat organized crime, whether he is of Italian or Russian origin. It has also helped to solve many terrorist cases. Today, it is indisputable. The United States has become a safer country thanks to the witness protection program since the 1970s. Italy has adopted the anti-Europe system 20 years after the United States. It all started in 1981, in Sicily. A mafia clan war causes a bloodbath. We count. Nearly 3,000 victims in three years. Gasparet Moutolo, a former Palace mafioso, participated in this carnage. At this time, Fear and chaos reigned everywhere. There were no more rules. It was enough to say that such and such had been seen with such and such another, automatically, There was the unspoken order that had to be broken. First we killed, and then, The murder was being sought to be justified. This is the real drama of the mafia of the time. The police are going to arrest two mobsters. Tommaso Bouchetta and Salvatore Contorno. They lost their entire family in this fratricidal war. In 1984, The two men broke the code of silence and became the first two repentants of the Sicilian mafia. In the ranks of Cosa Nostra, It’s panic. The most worrying repentant for us, it wasn’t Bouchetta, It was Contorno. Because we all knew him. outline, he was not afraid of anything. Besides, myself, I had committed three or four murders with him. SO, when it was learned that he had decided to repent, We really thought that things were going to turn out badly for us. Effectively, Bouchetta and Contorno’s revelations led to the arrest of hundreds of mobsters. in this bunker built for the occasion, the trial of the century will begin. 475 mobsters appear locked in cages. But the real stars of the trial, These are the repentant Bouchetta and Contornon. If I find myself here, I find myself to save my life, but I’m not afraid to die, I have nothing left to lose. If I die, it doesn’t matter. But I want to tell everyone that I’m here. The verdict is merciless. The men of honor will receive a total of 26 centuries of cumulative prison sentences. The Sicilian mafia is shaken. In the wake of the maxi-trial, Hundreds of mobsters will turn their backs and repent in turn. In 1991, Italy adopts a law enshrining the role of repentants for judges. Thanks to his justice collaborators, fear has changed sides. The repentant, the justice collaborator, is not important. He is irreplaceable. It is not only used to try and convict people, but also to understand how the mafia works. It helps to weaken the organization, because the more people repent, the more members of the organization distrust each other. In 1992, Gaspare Mutolo in turn betrays the mafia. At the beginning, I provide a list of 650-700 names, all mobsters. I confess to having committed about twenty deaths. And I also denounce the perpetrators of more than a hundred other unsolved murders. Thanks to its collaboration with justice, Mutolo escapes life imprisonment. Today, He lives in hiding with his family in the suburbs of a big city. He has been receiving a state pension for 22 years, 1,500 euros per month, and makes ends meet with his painting. Today, It’s true that we have a quiet life, but we are not very happy, because sometimes we lack the necessities to live. Life is expensive compared to what the state gives us. I wish the state had been more grateful for the work we have done, we the repentant mafiosi. In Italy, There are 1,600 repentant people and 4,000 members of their families who are being taken care of by the State. A costly policy for taxpayers. When you take a family and move them to a city where they will be safe, We need to find a school for the children in a few weeks. Their health must also be taken care of. They are given a credit card and given money every month so they can meet their needs. We must find them furnished apartments with kitchens and televisions to allow them to live with dignity. Please note that we are currently renting more than 1,900 apartments in Italy to accommodate repentant people. The mafia has just committed the biggest attack in its history. Some time later, Tina Montinaro discovers in the press that those responsible for this attack have repented and have been handsomely paid. When I read in the newspaper that all these repentant people had received large sums of money and that they were being granted everything, there you really wonder how this is possible. They are murderers. Just because they decide to collaborate doesn’t mean we can forgive them for what they’ve done and believe that they’re becoming good people. I don’t accept that. Why you don’t like the term repentance I think this repentance is something else entirely. No one came to me and asked for forgiveness, I regret what I did. Person. And in fact, State-protected repentants rarely apologize. Mutolo, For example, the wine killer murder. He may search in vain, he still doesn’t see what hurt him. I don’t know what it means to repent. What I did was justified. The mafioso is not a murderer, he is a man of honor. When a soldier kills another soldier, you don’t say he’s a murderer. No, it’s war. Return to the United States. Heading to the Midwest, a quiet residential area. John Vizie, the drill killer, welcomes us to his home. He never felt any remorse either. He now lives with his new wife, Salma. Look at this beautiful woman. Isn’t she the best wife in the world? I think you have to be able to forgive with your heart. We need to give them 100% another chance and give them the opportunity to show who they are today. And don’t judge them based on their past. But John Vizie sometimes has trouble controlling himself. Do you miss violence? Yes, when people tell me stupid things, that I am threatened. I say to myself, you,
if you knew, I could beat you up there, NOW, but I have to shut up. So I prefer to tell people who I was. It protects me, it avoids, if anyone is looking for me, that it degenerates. My pitbull, he’s like me when I was young. Very unpredictable. Since he got out of the Marshalls’ protection system, John Vizie sells used cars with his wife. In front of his customers, he does not hesitate to evoke his past in his own way. Do you know my past? I was in the mafia, but I’m not there anymore. What were you? Were you the boss? No, I was killing guys. Be careful there, you’re turning white. I don’t do it anymore. I sell cars. Good cars. Yes it’s true, my car is very good. So, no more complaints. Hi John. Officially, in the United States, the rate of recidivism among repentant offenders would be very low. Only 15%, compared to 50% for classic criminals. But should we always believe the repentant? In Sicily, a case proves that it is not. One day in 1992, in the Sicilian capital, The mafia just blew up an entire street in the city center. The attack left six victims, anti-mafia judge Paolo Borsellino and his five bodyguards. A national drama, The funeral is broadcast live on television. In Palermo, The police quickly arrest a small local dealer, Vincenzo Scarentino. He claims to have participated in the attack and gives names of so-called companies, including that of a garbage collector, Gaetano Murana. The next morning, The garbage collector is stopped at the wheel of his car by the police. They told me that I had to come with them to the police station, two seconds, for a driving license check. Arrived in front of the police station, They activated the sirens and skidded on the handbrake. They injected me into the car at full speed and from that moment on, I didn’t understand anything anymore. On the basis and declaration of the repentant Carantino, Nebouer Mourana is accused of participating in the attack on Judge Borsellino. His life is turned upside down. But convinced that he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice, His lawyer questions the credibility of the repentant Carantino. My client had no alibi. So the only possible defense against the accusations of this repentant, It was to question his credibility. And in this matter, It seemed simple to us. It was discovered that the repentant had been discharged from military service because he was psychologically unstable. He also had psychiatric problems. He was clearly not someone who had the makings of a major criminal. He could never have joined the mafia and been a man of honor. The accusations of the Carantino defendant are unbelievable. They keep contradicting themselves. And yet, in 1993, The Murana garbage collectors and seven other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. But one man is going to cause a dramatic turn of events. Sergio Lari is one of the most protected magistrates in Italy. He lives under constant escort. In 2008, a repentant asks to meet him. I went to hear him and he told me This Scarentino, he invented everything. I was the one who stole the car used in the attack on Judge Borsellino He continues, I was the one who stole and placed the explosive inside. I was the one who stole the license plates to disguise the car. This whole phase of preparation for the attack, I made it. He gives me the names of other accomplices. He tells me that everything Carantino said is false. I confess that I remained incredulous in the face of these statements. Sergio Lari will reopen the case. He discovers that no investigation had been carried out at the time to verify the accusations of the repentant Carantino. Summoned before the judge, he will admit to having invented everything. Today, The false repentant must explain himself in a new trial. And this time, He is the accused. Morana’s lawyer, garbage collectors wrongly accused, gets his revenge. This trial is a demonstration of the failure of the system of repentants. Because the accused in the last trial… like my client Mourana, have now taken civil action against the repentant who slandered them. At the back of the courtroom, Gaetano Mourana, the garbage man, released in 2011, he spent 20 years in prison for nothing. My life will not change anymore because they have already destroyed it. They destroyed me morally and physically. I was 33 when they arrested me. I lost everything, I got out of prison, but I am destroyed. Me and this other innocent. That day, Murana will hear the false repentant apologize. He is hidden behind this screen. He accuses police officers of manipulating him at the time. of the actor of the death of the police officer. I want to ask forgiveness from the victims’ families. I want to ask forgiveness from those people who have been offended. What do you feel about Scarantino? I don’t feel anything for Scarantino. He is innocent like me. They put all his words in his mouth. Is this legal fiasco simply due to police manipulation? We asked Sergio Lari, the magistrate, who discovered the truth. I think it’s a whole system that didn’t work. Because it is difficult to imagine that only police manipulation could have influenced an entire trial. But let me keep a certain reserve, because there is an ongoing investigation and new trials will take place. Gaetano Morana is still not out of the woods. The retrials will take years. He is still officially guilty. He has not received any state benefits since his release from prison. Morana sells fish on a street in Palermo. I found myself in a world that no longer resembled mine. I lost my job. So to feed my family, I buy two or three boxes of fish. I am reselling them hoping to make 30, 40 euros. And I share with my colleague. At his side, there is also his son, that he did not see grow up. I left my son when he was still a baby. I went out again, he was a young man. I would go see him a few times when we managed to save up a bit of money, approximately every three months. But I always saw him behind a window. Today, we try to build a father-son relationship, a report that has never existed before. In Italy, The case of the garbage collector Murana symbolizes the limits and the perverse effects. of the repentant system. Thanks to the system of repentants, There were many arrests, many convictions. We managed to fight the mafia. It’s true, but partly. It is certain that informers who come from within the mafia are a privileged source of information. But the problem with this system of repentants, it is that, A, the police investigation services no longer know how to conduct investigations, and two, the magistrates, more precisely the prosecutors, those who lead judicial investigations, and well as soon as a repentant person starts to speak, he is satisfied with their statement. They no longer pursue investigations and rest on their laurels. With this scandal, Italian justice wakes up with a hangover. There is a great mystery in this story. How did we not notice that we were dealing with a false repentant? I think the problem, is that you have to be professional when using this instrument. We should not attach ourselves to the repentant, you shouldn’t believe everything he says, even though it can solve many cases. You have to check what he says and how he says it. Early 2015, The system of repentants was set up by the French Ministries of Justice and the Interior with the greatest secrecy. How will they control the revelations of the repentant and avoid false accusations? Plasmovo at the Ministry of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve’s spokesperson, agree to answer us. The system as it was set up and as it is, the fact that words alone will not be enough. It will take a number of elements, at the discretion of both magistrates and juries, but… words alone cannot bring condemnation. This is something that is quite restrictive. Obviously, in setting up this system, We took into account what had been done abroad before being able to implement it on French territory. Financing question, France has thought of an ingenious system. The sale of property confiscated from criminals will finance the rehabilitation of repentant offenders. Explanation from the magistrate in charge of the matter. Which is good news, This is because the agency for the management and recovery of assets seized and confiscated from criminals finances the fight against crime. I find it quite amusing that in the end it is the environment that gives us the means to fight against it. I find that, This is a great new feature in terms of symbols. In my opinion, It is not a device that is intended to be used every day. Fortunately, we are not, and yet I am not one of those who minimize the reality of the mafia phenomenon, fortunately we are not in the situation that Italy experienced, if you want. However, Perhaps the future will allow us to rejoice in the existence of this system, to fight terrorism, For example. Because I think that there, we have beautiful days ahead of us, if you will allow me the expression. We may need these kinds of tools. Terrorism, but also corruption, drug trafficking, settling of scores in the middle. In France, in the greatest secrecy, Some criminals are already ready to enter the system of repentants.