27 Facts About Salvatore Cuffaro

Salvatore "Toto" Cuffaro was born on 21 February 1958 and is a former Italian politician and former President of Sicily.

Salvatore Cuffaro has served an almost 5-year jail sentence for aiding Cosa Nostra.

Salvatore Cuffaro has earned the nickname Vasa Vasa for his tendency to kiss all and sundry; he says that he has kissed a quarter of all the people on the island.

Salvatore Cuffaro joined the Christian Democrat party during his student days.

Salvatore Cuffaro first became known nationally in September 1991, when he defended his political patron Mannino, accused of being a witness at a Mafia wedding, live on television in a joint broadcasting of the Maurizio Costanzo show and Michele Santoro's Samarcanda, accusing the presenters that their journalism was Mafia journalism.

In October 2009, Salvatore Cuffaro denounced for "defamation and threats" the 5000 and above YouTube users who commented the video of the TV show.

In 2001, after having joined the UDC, Salvatore Cuffaro was endorsed by the House of Freedoms as presidential candidate for Sicily.

Salvatore Cuffaro was elected as part of Silvio Berlusconi's sensational clean sweep of the island when his coalition won all 61 of its parliamentary seats.

On 26 June 2003, it was revealed that Salvatore Cuffaro was being investigated for Mafia-related crimes, after Domenico Miceli, a fellow UDC politician, was arrested for allegedly acting as a link between a Mafia chief and top Sicilian politicians, including Salvatore Cuffaro.

Later that year, Salvatore Cuffaro was appointed national vice-secretary of UDC, the party headed by Pier Ferdinando Casini.

In July 2000 Mastella and Salvatore Cuffaro had been witnesses at Campanella's wedding.

Salvatore Cuffaro tried unsuccessfully to prevent the publishers from broadcasting their reportage on the grounds of its allegedly "defamatory" contents but in January 2006 the Civil Court in Bergamo rejected his request, stating that both text and video, including the audio commentary by the journalists, were not defamatory.

On 15 October 2007, assistant public prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone requested eight years' imprisonment for Salvatore Cuffaro charged with aiding and abetting Cosa Nostra and passing confidential information about the trial to the so-called moles in the Palermo Antimafia directorate.

Salvatore Cuffaro's indictment emerged from an inquiry set up to trace leaks during an inquiry into a local doctor, Giuseppe Guttadauro, accused of being the Cosa Nostra boss in its Palermo stronghold Brancaccio.

On 18 January 2008, Salvatore Cuffaro was found guilty of having helped the Mafia and was given a five-year sentence, during which time he will be suspended from all public offices.

Salvatore Cuffaro was not found guilty of outright collusion with Cosa Nostra but the court concluded he acted in favour of several people sentenced for Mafia crimes and committed breaches of confidentiality.

The prosecution had asked that Salvatore Cuffaro be given an eight-year sentence but judges concluded that while he had helped the Mafia, there had been neither conspiracy nor willful intent.

Salvatore Cuffaro has denied all wrongdoing and refused to step down, despite that he has been banned from public office.

The day after, Salvatore Cuffaro handed out cannoli, a Sicilian pastry, as if celebrating the sentence, which he considered positive as he was not convicted for ties to the Mafia.

Salvatore Cuffaro didn't bring the celebratory cannoli with him, but one of his many well-wishers did.

Salvatore Cuffaro's resignation followed reports that the national government was planning a move to oust him.

The head of Italy's politically influential industrial lobby, Confindustria, lamented that Salvatore Cuffaro remained in office while Sicilian businessmen were defying the Mafia by increasingly refusing to pay systematic "protection" money.

Salvatore Cuffaro subsequently announced his intention to appeal the sentence before the Supreme Court and to resign from all party offices.

Salvatore Cuffaro served his time in jail at the Roman prison of Rebibbia.

Salvatore Cuffaro was taken to Rome's Rebbibia prison the same day the Supreme Court confirmed the mafia conviction.

Under the term of the sentencing as a mafia convict, Salvatore Cuffaro is barred in perpetuity from holding public office.

Salvatore Cuffaro served his sentence and was released on 13 December 2015.