Messina Denaro clansmen get 80 years

(ANSA) - Palermo, May 2 - A Palermo judge on Monday sentenced six men from the clan of fugitive Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro to a total of 80 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Cosa Nostra.
    Pietro Giambalvo, Michele Gucciardi, and Domenico 'Mimmo' Scimonelli - clan treasurer and owner of a supermarket in the town of Partanna - were sentenced to 17 years each.
    Investigators say Scimonelli attempted to approach an industry ministry official to obtain 700,000 euros in State financing, and that he often traveled to Switzerland, where Messina Denaro may be hiding his assets.
    Vincenzo Giamabalvo got 13 years, Michele Terranova got 12 years and Giovanni Loretta got four years for aiding and abetting in the fast-track trial. The investigation that led to their arrests last year also resulted in the seizure of 13 million euros in real estate and businesses located in Castelvetrano, Mazara del Vallo, Partanna, Salemi, Santa Ninfa and Trapani.
    Italian police last month arrested seven people in the countryside around the Sicilian city of Agrigento in what they said was a continuation of a "scorched earth" policy aimed at trapping the elusive head of the Sicilian Mafia.
    Police said alleged bosses and accomplices, key parts of a support network for the fugitive Cosa Nostra chief, held meetings in the fields, walking around to evade possible surveillance devices.
    Messina Denaro, 53, has not been publicly seen in more than 20 years, but an informant in 2014 helped Italian authorities update their ideas of the Mafia boss's appearance, including the fact he no longer wears eyeglasses and his dark hair has receded.
    The Cosa Nostra No.1, whose home fief is in Agrigento, has been a fugitive since 1993 and according to Interpol he is among the 10 most wanted criminals in the world.