One of the "godfathers" of the Italian mafia in Grenoble in the 1980s - Jean-Pierre Maldera, was shot in public today on a highway near the French city, Agence France-Presse reported.
The seventy-one-year-old man was driving alone on the A41 highway when he was killed by passengers in another car that was following him at around 10:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m. Bulgarian time).
Jean-Pierre Maldera and his younger brother Robert Maldera are considered the "godfathers" of the Italian crime scene in Grenoble in the 1980s, having ruled the capital of the French Alps for a long time. The mafia boss who was killed today was known for his involvement in pimping, racketeering, and armed robbery. He has prison sentences.
Jean-Pierre Maldera has not been in the news for more than twenty years.
In 2004, the two Maldera brothers were imprisoned on charges of criminal conspiracy, money laundering, extortion, and pimping, but were released in 2005 due to procedural errors that led to the conviction being overturned.
The other Maldera brother, Robert, known by his nickname "Il paso" (the crazy one in Italian), mysteriously disappeared in 2015 at the age of 55, with authorities believing he may have been murdered.