A Palermo appeals court on
Monday raised from 13 years to fourteen and a half years the
jail term for the jailed sister of Cosa Nostra's fugitive No.1
Matteo Messina Denaro.
Anna Patrizia Messina Denaro, 46, was found guilty of being
a full member of the Mafia and not an outside affilate as in her
first-instance trial two years ago.
The woman has seen assets worth several thousands of euros
belonging to her seized by police.
Several firms including an olive-oil company belonging to
her and her husband were impounded and a number of bank accounts
frozen.
The boss's sister was among 30 people arrested in December
2013 but police think she still has contact with her brother
although in jail and relays his orders.
After the December sweep police said they have "never been
so close" to capturing the elusive boss.
Italy's anti-mafia authorities in March 2014 updated the
identikit of Messina Denaro after receiving new information
about his appearance from an informant.
It marked the first time since 2011 that investigators were
able to update the computer-simulated portrait of the appearance
of the crime boss, who is one of the world's 10 most-wanted men
according to Interpol.
The 54-year-old crime boss has gained weight and his
receding hairline has advanced, although his hair remains dark,
an informant reported after a personal meeting with the mafia
boss.
Investigators discovered, thanks to the latest witness as
well as other informants, that Messina Denaro no longer wears
glasses.
Old photos of the crime boss show him with thick spectacles
due to a serious retina illness for which he sought treatment in
Spain.
A specialist who treated him in Barcelona confirmed the
gravity of the condition and hypothesized that Messina Denaro
has gone blind in one eye.
Investigators have been closing the net around Messina with
a wave of arrests and massive asset seizures since an updated
identikit in 2011 gave new impetus to the search.
The December 2013 operation came after police in April 2013
confiscated assets worth over 1.3 billion euros belonging to
Vito Nicastri, a Sicilian wind-farm and solar-power magnate
linked to Messina Denaro, in the biggest-ever assets seizure in
the country's history.
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