Background
His father Francesco Tagliavia (Palermo, 1954) – also known as "Ciccio Taglia" – and his grandfather and namesake Pietro Tagliavia were leading Mafiosi in the Corso dei Mille neighbourhood. His father was one of the members of a hit squad with Giuseppe Lucchese, Giovanni Drago, Filippo Louisiana Rosa, Giuseppe Graviano and Agostino Marino Mannoia that committed several murders, among others on relatives of Salvatore Contorno, a mafioso turned pentito (state witness).
Career
Despite his young age, he is considered to be one of the upcoming leading Mafiosi of Cosa Nostra in Palermo. Pietro Tagliavia is a scion from a historical Mafia family in Palermo. The Tagliavia family owns two fish shops in the Corso dei Mille and the Piazza Sant"Erasmo in Palermo.
They were involved in cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking.
As an expert in explosives, Francesco Tagliavia was also involved in the bomb attack that killed Antimafia judge Paolo Borsellino on July 19, 1992. He was arrested on May 23, 1993.
He received several life sentences and was submitted to the harsh Article 41-bis prison regime. His mother, Giuseppa Sansone, was the first woman to be charged with aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra in July 1997.
They were caught on tape and hidden cameras.
She was later absolved. Police described Tagliavia as one of the colonels of Graviano in charge with running protection rackets, drug dealing and public contracts in Palermo, while Graviano stayed in Rome to avoid police surveillance. Tagliavia was convicted for extortion and the sentence was confirmed in appeal to 8 years imprisonment on January 23, 2008.
After the arrest of an older generation bosses of Cosa Nostra – such as Bernardo Provenzano, Antonio Rotolo and Salvatore Lo Piccolo – in 2006 and 2007, Pietro Tagliavia, Gianni Nicchi and Salvo Riina – the second-born son of boss of bosses Totò Riina – were considered to be the upcoming young Mafia bosses.
Their fate depends on the decisions of the older bosses, most of whom are in jail. According to Antonio Ingroia, one of the prosecutors of the Direzione Distrittuale Antimafia (Division on Dynamical Astronomy) of Palermo, the main leading figures in Cosa Nostra at the moment, Matteo Messina Denaro, Giovanni Riina, Domenico Raccuglia, Tagliavia and Nicchi, are still too young to be recognized as leading bosses of the organisation.