I've heard about that story before Don Cardi. And Turnbull I think you have your facts wrong, back then the Mafia protected the non-wealthy Italian people, like you said they were basically Italian Robin Hoods. But as for the Mafia protecting wealthy land owners, I believe that's false. From what I've researched and from what I've heard from my elder family members (yes I am a descendant of a few Mafia families), the Mafia protected the non-wealthy Italian people.
the mafia, from the start, extorted there own countrymen, in league with the rich, to line their own pockets. Check the facts dude. Italian Robin Hoods? Robbing Hoods more-like (sorry - dopey pun. couldnt help it)
Not only in Southern Italy where it started: everywhere that italian criminals migrated to, and set up shop, has relied, especially in the early days, on the exploitation of the fellow immigrants.
