Awaiting revocation of Carminati 41 bis

(ANSA) - Rome, October 23 - A lawyer for former rightist militant, gangster and Mondo di Mezzo graft case ringleader Massimo Carminati said Wednesday they were expecting authorities to revoke his 41-bis tough jail regime for mafiosi after the cassation Court ruled out mafia charges in the sprawling corruption case.
    "We are expecting that the 41 bis, or the tough jail regime, will be immediately revoked, and if that were not to happen we are ready to appeal," said Cesare Placanica.
    "In these hours we are also weighing whether to present a plea for him to be released from prison pending the Rome court of appeal's decision on the shortening of his term".
    At the appeals level, former gangster and ex-member of the NAR right-wing terrorist group Carminati was given a term of 14 years and six months.
    The term of the other ringleader, leftwing cooperatives chief Salvatore Buzzi, was 18 years, four months.
    The case was initially nicknamed 'Capital Mafia' after prosecutors said it regarded organized crime.
    In the first sentence, judges had said there were two separate criminal organisations in the case and they were not mafia-like in nature.
    But the appeals verdict said that mafia association was involved, before the supreme court reversed that reversal.
    The ringleaders were caught on a wiretap saying they could make more on Roma and migrant camps than from drugs.
    Mondo di Mezzo refers to Carminati's nickname for the demi-monde he operated in.
    Some former members of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) were also involved in the 'Mondo di Mezzo' case and in February former centre-right Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno got six years for illegal financing corruption in a separate case linked to it.
    In Italy sentences do not usually become effective until the appeals process has been exhausted.