"| Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-ROW @f-4 py 88R000100270003-0 TERRORISM Fat Man, Tailor, Soldier, Spy How the U.S. and Italy got the Mafia to help find General Dozier n the evening of Dec. 17, 1981, Red Brigades terrorists kidnaped Briga- dier General James Dozier, 50, the high- est-ranking U.S. officer in NATO’s south- ern Europe command, from his home in Verona. The abduction triggered the larg- est man hunt in Italy’s history. Forty-two days later, Italian commandos stormed an ~ apartment in Padua and freed the . American general. It was a stunning piece of police work that won praise from around the world; it also marked the beginning of the end for the noto- rious terrorist group. But the full story of how the authorities found. Dozier has never been revealed. American and Italian intelligence agencies, TIME has learned, turned to the Mafia for help in locating the general. . What occurred was a remarkable tale of.triumphs and bungles, of Brooklyn consiglieri and- Milan Mafi- osi, of chases along New York City’s Fifth Avenue and gun-toting crimi- nals tailing intelligence agents along Italian autostrade. So secret was -the operation that not even U.S. Ambas- sador to Italy Maxwell Rabb was aware of it until TIME Correspondent Jonathan . Beaty, accompanied by Rome Correspondent. Barry Kalb, questioned the diplomat two weeks ago. Beaty’s report: t took only two days for top offi- cials at SISMI, the Italian intelli- gence agency, to decide that it might be useful to turn to the Mafia for help in finding General Dozier. Although the Mafia had long detested the Red Brigades, SISMI knew that there would be a public outcry ifit was ever discovered that an Italian govern- ment agency had contacted the Ma- fia directly.. Consequently, a more subtle plan was devised, An ap- proach would be made to Mafiosi in the U.S., who would be asked to get in touch with their counterparts in Italy. Marcello Campione, then military at- taché to the Italian mission at the United Nations, began making inquiries in New York Mafia circles. Working under a code name, “the Tailor,” Campione was led to an influential Mafia consigliere in Brook- lyn who makes his living by helping Ital- ians move to the U.S. “The Fat Man,” as the arranger is known in the underworld, agreed to put Campione in touch with a fugitive Mafioso from Italy who was hid- ing out in New York. That contact turned out to be Domi- nic Lombino, 40, a lawyer from Milan whose clients had included Franchino Restelli, the northern. Italian city’s lead- ing Mafioso. Jailed briefly in 1978 for his Mafia associations, Lombino fled to the US. in July 1981 when Italian authorities suddenly seized his passport, a signal that they. were. preparing to indict him. The Italian military. attaché told Lombino that he could make a lot of money if he would help with the Dozier case. On Dec. 22, only five days after Dozier had been abducted, Lombino phoned the Fat Man The jubilant and still unshaven victim after his rescue Triumphs and bungles from-Brooklyn to Milan. and then Armando Sportelli, chief of SISMI’s foreign operations in Rome. The word: Dozier was being held somewhere inside the triangle formed by the cities of Verona, Padua and Bologna. The next day; after more phone conversations with associates in Italy, Lombino was able to tell SISMI that the American general was definitely in Padua. Lombino did not know the precise location, but suggested that his old client Restelli, then impris- oned in Milan’s notorious San Vitlore prison for Mafia activities, might be able to come up with the address. Attaché Campione quickly agreed. Over the Christmas holiday he developed a plan to sneak Lombino out of the U.S. and into Italy so that Lombino could talk with Restelli. Since Lombino was still a fugitive with no passport, the Italian offi- 32 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100270003-0 cial had to concoct a new identity for him. With the Fat. Man’s aid, Lombino ac- quired the Social Security number of an unwitting high school driver’s education instructor from Brooklyn, while a cooper- ative priest in Manhattan provided him with false baptism records, On Dec. 27, dressed in dark glasses, Levi’s and running shoes, Lombino head- ed for the U.S. passport office on Manhat- tan’s Fifth Avenue. Though he had been assured that there would be no problems, Lombino, now joined by Campione, ner- vously showed up an hour early to check acenziap-pvay Out the area. They quickly spotted too many men wearing trench coats and reading newspapers. Sensing a trap, Lombino ran down the up escalators tothe street and jumped intoa cab be- fore he could be captured. The star- tled Campione simply disappeared into the crowd. The pursuers turned out to be FBI agents who had learned that.an Ital- ian Mafia associate living illegally in New York was trying to obtain a false passport to return to Italy. Within hours, FBI agents were grill- ing both the Fat Man and Campione, demanding to know why the Italians were helping a fugitive Mafioso like Lombino. A panicky Campione called Sportelli in Rome to find out if a he should tell the FBI the truth. The SISMI foreign-intelligence boss imme- diately called “M,” ‘the CIA agent in Rome who was serving as the agen- cy’s liaison in the Dozier case and ex- plained the entire ploy. The CIA was intrigued. It quickly called the FBI off the case and began negotiating directly with Lombino by phone. Lombino, however, no longer trusted SISMI..He insisted on. U.S. protection as well as a pledge that he could legally return to the US. if he a went to Italy and saw Restelli. The Justice Department approved the m™ residency deal, and as a result, in fl early January 1982 Lombino made the first of two trips to the Washing- ton, D.C., area to meet with CIA®| agents. For unknown reasons, Lombino’s trip to Italy was delayed. According to Italian intelligence sources, the problem was a ri- valry between Campione and General Ninetto Lugaresi, the head of SISMI. Finally, on Jan. 23, Lombino boarded an Alitalia flight from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Rome. Accompanied by Cam- pione and wearing a wig as a disguise, he carried CIA-supplied papers in the name of Andrew Dimanso, the alias he was sup- posed to use in Italy. When the pair land- ed in Rome, they were met by the CIA’s “M” and a cadre of American and Italian intelligence agents. Lombino was hustled away toa hotel a block from the U.S. em- bassy. Twice during the next day, he met with Franca Musi, a Red Brigades courier }. who had been captured two weeks earlier* in Rome. The Italians thought that Musi, TIME, FEBRUARY 28, 1983
eh whose family had~ underworld connec- tions, might give valuable information’ to Lombino, but. she claimed only. to know that Dozier:was being held some- where in Padua: It was now time to see Restelli. On the night of Jan. 26, Lombino climbed into a white Alfa. Romeo. with ‘four ‘Italian po- licemen. and headed for’ Milan:. Behind them was: a second car carrying Cam- pione and other SISMI officers. It was only part_of the odd caravan that’ raced along the highway that-night. The Italians were tailed: by at least two: Mercedes sedans filled with Mafia soldiers armed with ma- chine guns. Their instructions: protect Lombino. When ‘the improbable parade: of motorists reached Milan, a CIA agent - joined up as well. ~ The lawyer and-sIsMI agents then met with Restelli, who was brought out of jail especially for the conference, which took ‘place in a police: office’in' the Palace of Justice. “It:is very important to America that we find the general,” Lombino said to the Mafia leader. “Can you help us?” Tr question did not exactly surprise Restelli, Lombino had already been:in touch. with. him. through. intermediaries; _ and -from:his jail cell Restelli -had° dis- patched his troops to track.down. leads. Restelli had also ordered the supply line of heroin to parts of the underworld cut off in order to encourage tips from. addicts stid- denly deprived of drugs. Restelli’s pre- sumption: in. exchange for giving the au- thorities. information on Dozier, he would receive more favorable treatment from the Tialians. On Jan.-27, according to a partici- pant at the meeting, Restelli gave the SISMI agents the address of the apartment build- ing in which Dozier was being held. His mission accomplished, Lombino returned to Rome. Next morning, Jan, 28, ‘he-was sitting in his room ‘at the Hotel Bos- ton with “M” when the word came: James - Dozier had just been rescued in a daring raid at 2 Via Pindemonte, in the heart of Padua. “M” turned to Lombino - an thanked him profusely for his help. Since the rescue; U.S~ officials have been careful to give full credit tothe Italians.-Both Rome .and- Washington have forcefully claimed that the success of. the op- eration was the result of dogged police work and the confessions of Red Brigades members’ who had been captured during the six-week search for 4 Dozier. he When first questioned by TIME two weeks ago about CIA and Mafia in- volvement in the rescue, Ambassador Rabb heat- edly denied it. “I swear to God that nothing like this ever happened,” the am- bassador said. In fact, he insisted, he had spent The key address: 2 Via Pindemonte, after the successful rald - much of his time fending Hearing the news, the CIA agent turned to Lombino and thanked him profusel ‘¥. rangements for friends. off help from. Washington, which kept try- ing to send to Italy a swarm of experts rang- ing from FBI agents to Pentagon tacticians. ‘Some of the American aid was bizarre at best: during the last week of the search, TIME has learned, U.S. military officials brought to Rome a psychic who sent the ca- rabinieri chasing after a futile lead. “They were coming through the windows, coming through the doors,” recalled Rabb. “Every- body in the intelligence agencies wanted in, but this was a job for the Italians.” When presented with evidence of Ma- fia involvement, Rabb offered to check with the embassy’s CIA station chief"The ‘ambassador’ returned 40 minutes’ later, looking embarrassed. He confirmed. that SISMI had indeed made a‘deal. with Lom- ‘bino and that, after the'U.S. had offered Lombino protection ard a guarantee that he could return to the U.S., the Mafia law- yer had gone to Italy and met with “M.” Rabb insisted that nothing had come of Lombino’s aid. “It-was a big fizz,” the am- bassador said. The FBI and the Justice Department refuse to confirm or deny the story, while the CIA offers. a terse “no comment.” : It may never be. known just how valu- able the Mafia’s help was in finding Doazi- er.-Rabb’s explanation, which minimizes the Mafia’s role; may’ be accurate: The Italian police did indeed make a series of key arrests just before the raid, and law- enforcement officials in Rome insist that these suspects helped lead them to Dozier, In the days just before the rescue, the trail was growing so hot that the police might have found the general without help from Restelli. On the other hand, Italian mag- istrates acknowledged that on Jan. 26 Restelli was secretly released from prison at the request of SISMI and the CIA to meet with officials in. Milan. U.S. embassy per- sonnel in Rome confirm’ that “Dozier’s whereabouts was. not known until: the night before the raid, which is when the Mafia leader reportedly gave the address to the Italians. Today General. Dozier is stationed at the U.S. Army base in Fort Knox, Ky. Mar- cello Campione, who clashed with the head of SISMI, has been: dis- % patched to the Italian em- bassy in far-off Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Fran- chino Restelli- has been transferred from. his Milan prison to a more hospitable jail in Parma. Dominic Lombino is back in New York, reportedly waiting for the Justice Department to approve the residency papers requested by the CIA. In Italy, trouble is brewing within SISMI about the sum of money, which turned out to be $500,000, that was promised to Lom- bino but that has apparent- , ly disappeared. And, oh * yes, the Fat Man is still in Brooklyn, making’ ar- = > =z Ea » m ied ° m at a m EI a ‘The key link: Milan Mafioso Franchino Restelfi AYd-d YIZNADY TIME, FEBRUARApppeved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100270003-0-——_-.—. —-—- 33