Carminati gets 20 years in Capital Mafia (4)

(ANSA) - Rome, July 20 - Massimo Carminati, a former gangster and ex-member of the NAR right-wing terrorist group, was found guilty by a Rome court on Thursday over allegations he was part of an organisation that muscled in on city contracts worth millions. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Another ringleader of the so-called Capital Mafia, leftwing cooperatives chief Salvatore Buzzi, got 19 years.
    The accusation of mafia association was scrubbed for 19 of the 46 defendants in the so-called Capital Mafia case, including ringleaders Carminati and Buzzi, by Thursday's ruling.
    Carminati said he was "satisfied" with the 20-year sentence. Carminati did not get a longer term, 28 years, because the charge of mafia association was scrubbed. His lawyer was convinced of this so the former rightist militant and ex-gangster turned to him and said "you were right, I'm satisfied". Carminati also said "now they must immediately remove me from 41 bis", referring to the tough prison regime for mafiosi.
    Buzzi turned to his lawyer and asked "now when do I get out of jail?". He said "I hope that in the light of this decision my stay in jail is set to end".
    Carminati's lawyer Giosuè Naso said the judges said "the mafia doesn't exist in Rome, as we've been saying for 30 months". He said that, despite this, the verdicts were "absurdly and unusually severe". He said Rome Chief Prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone was "certainly the beaten one", adding "I don't know if there are any winners".
    Capital Mafia prosecutor Paolo Ielo said after securing a total of 250 years in jail for the defendants that "sentences must be respected" even though judges scrubbed the charge of mafia association and left only simple conspiracy in their sentences. "The judges turned us down on some points but sentences must be respected," he said, adding "we will wait for the explanation of the verdict".
    Former Rome migrants panel chief Luca Odevaine got six and a half years while former Rome council assembly chair Mirko Coratti of ex-pre,ier Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party got six years.
    The former Rome city council whip for three-time former premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi's now-defunct People of Freedom party, Luca Gramazio, got 11 years.
    Buzzi's wife and secretary were also found guilty in the trial. The wife, Alessandra Garrone, got 13 and a half years for helping her husband commit his crimes.
    The secretary, Nadia Cerrito, who kept Buzzi's books, received a five-year sentence.
    Three of the 46 defendants were acquitted. They are Rocco Rotolo and Salvatore Ruggiero, for whom prosecutors asked 16 years in jail, and the former general manager of waste and rubbish company AMA, Giovanni Fiscon, for whom a five-year term was asked.
    Prosecutors said Rotolo and Ruggiero had acted as go-betweens between Capital Mafia ringleaders and the Calabria-based 'Ndrangheta mafia.
    Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi was in court for the reading out of the sentences. The city is a civil plaintiff.
    "Today is a victory for Rome's citizens," she said.