Paulie Lombardo

Lore & Background

Paulie Lombardo is introduced in 1930 as one of two Salieri gangsters who strong-arm taxi driver Tommy Angelo into helping them escape a Morello family ambush. After Tommy is compensated and later joins the family after Morello gangsters destroy his cab, Paulie helps Tommy exact retribution upon his attackers. Paulie works alongside Tommy and Sam Trapani as a core trio of enforcers for Don Ennio Salieri. In 1932, on Salieri's orders, Tommy and Paulie retaliate against a gang of street hoodlums that were sexually harassing Sarah Marino, with Paulie killing their leader, Billy.

They later learn Billy was the son of corrupt city councillor Roberto Ghillotti. Paulie is present when Tommy, Sam, and Carlo help Salieri secure a deal with whiskey magnate William Gates, only to be attacked by Morello's men. By 1938, when Tommy, Paulie, and Sam agree to recover a stash of diamonds hidden amongst impounded cigars, they discover heroin instead. Enraged by Salieri's deception and involvement in the drug trade, which he explicitly forbade them to ever engage in, Tommy and Paulie decide to carry out a bank heist that will allow them to retire, without cutting Salieri in.

Although the job is a success, Tommy later finds Paulie dead in his apartment the following day, and the stolen money is missing. Tommy learns from Sam that Salieri ordered him to kill Tommy and Paulie for going behind his back.

Reader's Guide

Paulie Lombardo is a supporting character in Mafia: Definitive Edition, appearing throughout the single-player campaign as a fellow soldier in the Salieri crime family. He is first encountered in 1930 when he and Sam Trapani strong-arm Tommy Angelo into helping them escape a Morello family ambush. Paulie is present during several key missions: in 1932, he kills Billy (the son of councillor Ghillotti) on Salieri's orders after Billy's gang harassed Sarah Marino; in 1933, he helps secure a whiskey deal with William Gates; and in 1938, he participates in the bank heist that was meant to allow him and Tommy to retire.

Paulie's death occurs off-screen—Tommy finds him dead in his apartment the day after the heist, with the stolen money missing. Tommy later learns from Sam that Salieri ordered the hit because they went behind his back. Paulie's fate is a pivotal moment that leads Tommy to kill Sam and eventually testify against the Salieri family.