What is "pentito"

n. A criminal who cooperates with police or government authorities and testifies against or provides harmful information on fellow criminals; a turncoat or informant. Used mostly in reference to ex-Mafiosi.

Pentito (; "he who has repented", plural pentiti) designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations. The government passed legislation creating the judicial category pentiti to fight terrorism in the 1970s, during the " Years of Lead". Their correct technical name in Italian is collaboratori di giustizia (collaborators of justice). In the wake of the Maxi Trial in 1986-87, and after the testimony of Tommaso Buscetta, the term was more often used for former members of the Sicilian Mafia who abandoned their organization and started helping in investigations.