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The Pizza Connection Trial was one of the largest cases in American history and took place between October 24 , 1985 and March 2 , 1987 . The trial centred around a Mafia plot to distribute Heroin and launder the proceeds using a chain of pizza parlours as a front. It is estimated that $ 1.6 billion of drugs was brought into the USA between 1975 and 1984 , when a number of the key drug traffickers were arrested in Palermo airport trying to smuggle in huge amounts of cash. This resulted in a large crackdown primarily involving the FBI as well as the NYPD and also with co-operation from the Italian police. There were 22 defendants - believed to be just a fraction of the number of Mafiosi involved in the scheme - standing trial, all Sicilian born, many of whom could not speak English. Each defendant had their own attorney which made the courtroom especially crowded. One of the defendants was murdered before the trial even began and two others were shot during the course of the trial. Mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta testified at the trial against his former criminal associates; he had not been part of the Pizza Connection scheme himself, but he had helped establish the Sicilian's presence in the US drug trade in the early 1970s and had been a close friend of many of the defendants. The case proved especially difficult for the jurors who were not allowed to take notes and were often asked to leave the court at important times. The case was meant to strike a defining blow to the drug trade in the US and for this reason the costs and the sheer scale of the trial were allowed to escalate out of all proportion. The case ended up costing $50 million. The prosecution case alone took a year to present. Ultimately, however, despite most of the defendants being found guilty, the trial had little impact on the drug problem in the US. Gaetano Badalamenti , a former Mafia boss from Palermo , Sicily , was one of those convicted. He was given a 45-year sentence. The lead prosecutor in the case was future FBI Director Louis Freeh. He was responsible for the use of actors to read and act out the english translations of the transcripted dialogue between the defendants. Rudolf Giuliani , who would later become Mayor of New York , played a key role in the prosecution case as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Domenico Lo Galbo, one of the bosses convicted ''in absentia''(to 18 years) died on 30 December 2005 in his bed in Bagheria near Palermo . Relatives called the police to denounce the death pretending he had come a few days before from the USA to die in his bed. REFERENCES ''The Pizza Connection: Lawyers, Drugs and The Mafia'' by Shana Alexander ''Excellent Cadavers'' by Alexander Stille EXTERNAL LINK
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