The head of the Sicilian mafia sent a hit man to America to arrange the murder of Rudy Giuliani in the 1980s, according to reports.
"Boss of bosses" Salvatore Riina targeted Giuliani because of his friendship with an anti-mafia judge in Sicily, Giovanni Falcone, the New York Post reported.
The plot to kill Giuliani, while he was US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, came to light during a trial in Sicily in which former Italian government officials are accused of agreeing to a peace pact with the mob in the 1990s.
During the trial in Palermo, it was disclosed that a former mafioso, Rosario Naimo, moved to the United States in 1965 and became the Sicilian mob's senior representative in the US.
Naimo told investigators that a bloodthirsty mobster named Benedetto "The Beast" Villico arrived from Italy with a letter from Riina that ordered the assassination of Giuliani.
But Riina dropped the plan when he realized that US law enforcement could retaliate by destroying the Sicilian mob, according to website Palermo Today.
