[2] Francisci served in the general council (conseil général) of the Corse-du-Sud (UDR) and was a member of the Civic Action Service (SAC), a Gaullist militia.
As a young man, he fought with the Free French Forces in Italy during World War II and was awarded four medals[4] for acts of heroism, including the Croix de Guerre.
[2] After the armistice with Italy, he was recruited into the Corsican Mafia by Jo Renucci and began smuggling cigarettes and silk stockings between Tangiers and Marseilles.
At that time, the Guérini clan was the ruling dynasty of the Corsican Mafia and had systematically organized the smuggling of opium from Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries.
[5] Weeks later, Francisci was nearly killed by snipers while leaving an election rally in favour of John Bozzi, a Gaullist candidate, in Ajaccio, Corsica, but he managed to escape.
According to the French weekly newspaper L'Express, on 14 December 1967, two gangsters loyal to the Guérini clan tried to blow up Francisci's house with 220 pounds of TNT.
Although Francisci was alleged to be a fearsome Corsican godfather,[2] he is favourably remembered in Corsica as a philanthropic businessman who funded the construction of roads, schools and clinics.