Francis Turatello

Francesco Turatello (Asiago, 1944 – Nuoro, August 17, 1981) was an important Italian crime figure, and mob boss who operated during the 1970s mainly in the city of Milan. He was popularly known by his pseudonym Francis Turatello. His nickname was "Faccia d'Angelo" (Angel Face).

Born in Veneto, Turatello was the son of a maiden seamstress from Asiago in the Province of Vicenza who returned to her hometown during World War II. According to some sources, he is the biological son of Italian-American Frank Coppola, the powerful Gambino family figure, also known as "Frankie Three Fingers". In any case, he was Coppola's godson. Turatello moved with his mother to Milan in his early childhood and settled in the district of Lambrate. He became an amateur boxer in his youth and later made his first appearance in the local Milanese underworld as a petty car thief. Driven by a strong personality and a firm ambition to succeed, he rose up in position and increasingly began taking serious roles, eventually becoming the head of a criminal gang consisting mainly of immigrants from Catania, Sicily.

His gang sought to control all the clandestine criminal rackets within the city as well as being the sole controller of prostitution. The gang made billions of lire from these rackets, and also participated in several robberies and kidnappings, with the complicity of the Banda dei Marsigliesi, headed by Albert Bergamelli. Turatello was the boss of all illegal rackets in the Po valley as far north as Milan and was a close protégé of the Mafia.

Turatello became infamous for his strong rivalry against Renato Vallanzasca which generated a bloody feud with numerous victims on both sides. After both Turatello and Vallanzasca were arrested for their part in the gang war, they reconciled their differences and became close friends. Turatello was the witness to the marriage of Vallanzasca to Giuliana Brusa which was celebrated in prison.

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