Giuliani was born in an Italian-American enclave in East Flatbush in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the only child of working-class parents, Harold Angelo Giuliani (1908-1981) and Helen Giuliani (nee D'Avanzo; 1909-2002), both children of Italian immigrants. Giuliani is of Tuscan origins from his father side, as his paternal grandparents (Rodolfo and Evangelina Giuliani) were born in Montecatini, Tuscany, Italy. He was raised a Roman Catholic. Harold Giuliani, a plumber and a bartender, had trouble holding a job, and was convicted of felony assault and robbery, serving time in Sing Sing.

Several of Giuliani's appointees to head City agencies became defendants in criminal proceedings.  In 2000, Giuliani appointed 34-year-old Russell Harding, the son of Liberal Party of New York leader and longtime Giuliani mentor Raymond Harding, to head the New York City Housing Development Corporation, although Harding had neither a college degree nor relevant experience. In 2005, Harding pleaded guilty to defrauding the Housing Development Corporation and to possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Russell Harding committed suicide in 2012.  In a related matter, Richard Roberts, appointed by Giuliani as Housing Commissioner and as chairman of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to a grand jury about a car that Harding bought for him with City funds.  Giuliani was a longtime backer of Bernard Kerik, who started out as a NYPD detective driving for Giuliani's campaign. Giuliani appointed him as the Commissioner of the Department of Correction and then as the Police Commissioner. Giuliani was also the godfather to Kerik's two youngest children. After Giuliani left office, Kerik was subject to state and federal investigations resulting in his pleading guilty in 2006, in a Bronx Supreme Court, to two unrelated ethics violations. Kerik was ordered to pay $221,000 in fines. Kerik then pleaded guilty in 2009, in a New York district court, to eight federal charges, including tax fraud and false statements, and on February 18, 2010, he was sentenced to four years in federal prison. Giuliani was not implicated in any of the proceedings.

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