3 Gomorra actors arrested for real life mafia roles

Also this:

Bastone was among Italy's 100 most wanted fugitives and is alleged to be a leading member of the Camorra mafia.

A copy of the film was among the DVDs that police found, along with "The Godfather" starring Marlon Brando.

"I mean most people in this movie were not actors."

Not only but some of them were (still are) part of Camorra.
This was well known and it was made public by the director himself, during filming, that he was using real people from that area fo the movie.

The guy who played the character of Pisellino in the movie, his name is Ciro Petrone, but in reality as well his nickname is Pisellino.
He was a guest in the weedding party of the notorious Camorra boss's son Salvatore Prinno.
He was there when the police arrested some of the participants (camorristi)during the party.
Here is the article but it's in italian: http://www.haisentito.it/articolo/ciro-petrone-da-gomorra-alle-nozze-del-figlio-del-boss-di-camorra/15385/

Also, some of the other "actors", which basically were just playing themselves, are arrested by the police:

1. Salvatore Fabbrocino: is one of the guys from Scampia,the "vele" neighbourhood.
His story is told in the movie actually. It's the war between the Di Lauro clan and the splinter group. It was exactly during that blood feud that one of his brothers was killed. Now also, another brother of him - who also played in the movie - is arrested and sentenced with 25 years in prison.

2. Bernardo Terracciano: is in reality part of the Casalesi Clan. He played Zì Bernardino in the movie.

3. Giovanni Venosa: is Giovanni in the movie as well, the boss of the "Clan di Pineta Mare" who condemned the two boys with death.
Venosa is also the nephew of the notorious Casalesi Clan boss Luigi Venosa, which is now in jail facing a life sentence.

Here is an article(in italian) about this: http://www.corriere.it/cronache/08_luglio_04/gomorra_boss_bufi_arrestato_d3fa3426-498b-11dd-9284-00144f02aabc.shtml


"No idea how they got them to act in the movie though, weird"

Very simple. The movie is a semi documentary and a social realistic movie, similar to neorealismo. Therefore, the director wanted real people (most of them)in it. This is not strange or weird because in Italy it has been done before. Starting with the neorealism, as I mentioned above.

There was also a similar story with Marco Risi's movie "Mery Per Sempre" (Mery Forever) in 1989.
The critics in Italy called the movie as the new neorealism.
It is set in a juvenile prison in Palermo, and many of the "actors" in the movie were real people from the area and they spoke in sicilian dialect. Some of them got arrested afterwards because they they were identified as part of Cosa Nostra.