A revered Italian nun was arrested for collaborating with a well-known mafia family.

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A well-known nurse from northern Italy named Sister Anna Donelli was recently taken into custody on accusations of conspiring with a strong clan of the “Ndragheta mafia family.”

It shocked the entire Italian community when 57-year-old Anna Donelli, a revered nun and recent recipient of the Golden Panettone, an annual Milanese civic honor, was arrested for her voluntary work in jails and in the unstable suburbs of cities like Milan, Rome, and Brescia. After an investigation into the activities of the ‘Ndragheta in Brescia, Sister Anna and 24 other individuals were arrested on Thursday. According to investigators, they had good reason to suspect the nun had been involved with the mafia crime family for a considerable amount of time. The nun is suspected of resolving problems and disputes between convicts and fostering communication between inmates and the clan’s leaders while working in many jails housing ‘Ndragheta members.

In a wiretap tape that Italian police produced in court, Stefano Tripodi, the head of the Tripodi clan located in Brescia, can be heard telling one of his subordinates, “Sister Anna Donelli is one of us.” The most powerful mafia group in Italy and among the most advanced in the world, the ‘Ndragheta,’ has long been linked to the Tripodi crime family, which runs a scrap metal and junkyard business.

Italian police claim that Sister Anna Donelli helped Stefano Tripodi and his incarcerated goons communicate by volunteering in prisons. Tripodi tells the nun to travel to Brescia Prison, approach Candiloro Francesco, a prisoner incarcerated for organized crime charges, and stay with him until no one else is present before introducing herself as a “friend of Stefano’s,” according to a wiretapped police communication.

Sister Anna’s reputation in the community helped her evade suspicion, and her employment as a spiritual aide allowed her to get beyond the Italian jails’ ban on convicted mafia members and allies communicating, even with family members. The Tripodi gang was able to better plan illegal activity, respond to criminal investigations, and resolve prison conflicts because of the information she shared with convicts or acquired from them.

After a challenging upbringing, Sister Anna Donelli became a nun at the age of 21. In 2010, she started volunteering in jails and on the perilous edges of several Italian cities. She enjoyed great respect from her contemporaries and the Italian community at large, and her work was even highlighted on television shows. She is currently under home arrest after being accused of conspiring with dangerous criminals.