Ailing Mafia boss begs release from jail 'to sire an heir'

[emad]

By Bruce Johnston in Rome
(Filed: 17/07/2005)

It is a request that Raffaele Cutolo, the former Mafia Godfather of Naples who is now said to have found God in his prison cell, hopes that the authorities cannot refuse.

Complaining of failing health, Cutolo, 64, is seeking a presidential pardon from his prison cell, where he is serving multiple life sentences for murder.

The official reason is that Cutolo wants to enjoy what little remains of his life in the arms of his wife, Immacolata, 22 years his junior. The real reason, however, is said to be that he is running out of time to consummate the marriage - the wedding took place in jail 23 years ago - and to impregnate his wife, who is now 42.

Cutolo, whose gangster "heydays" were in the 1960s and 70s, is the first boss of the Camorra, or Naples Mafia, to make such a request. Even though he is considered to be one of Italy's most powerful and bloody criminals, commanding a 3,000-strong Mafia "army" from behind bars, there is a chance, albeit remote, that the Italian president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, will grant the pardon.

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