Former Forza Italia MP Giancarlo
Pittelli was given a jail term of 11 years by a court in Lamezia
Terme on Monday, when he was among around 200 people convicted
in the so-called Rinascita Scott 'maxi' trial against alleged
members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia in the Calabrian province of
Vibo Valentia and the mob's white-collar facilitators.
Prosecutors had requested a prison term of 17 years for
Pittelli, a 70-year-old who is also a lawyer and is accused of
being a fixer for the crime syndicate.
He was convicted of external involvement in mafia association
and two counts of revealing confidential information.
Carabinieri police Lieutenant Colonel Giorgio Naselli was
sentenced to two years and six months in jail, much less than
the eight years requested, for leaking confidential official
information.
Former Finance Police Officer Michele Marinaro got 10 years and
six months, compared to the 17 years requested, for leaking
confidential information and external involvement in mafia
association.
Former regional councillor Pietro Giamborino was sentenced to 18
months, while prosecutors had wanted him put away for 20 years.
The court gave 30 years to Saverio Razionale and Domenico
Bonavota, the bosses of the San Gregorio and Sant'Onofrio clans.
The former mayor of the town of Pizzo, Gianluca Callipo, was
acquitted after prosecutors had requested an 18-year sentence
for him.
Callipo was among among around 130 of the 338 defendants to get
off.
The verdicts are not considered definitive until the appeals
system is exhausted, after two possible appeals.
It took the court an hour and 40 minutes to hand down its
rulings in a specially set-up 'bunker' courtroom in Lamezia
Terme after two years and 10 months of hearings.
The 'Ndrangheta is widely considered to have become Italy's most
powerful organized-crime syndicate thanks to its control over
much of the cocaine that arrives in Europe and its reach has
stretched outside its base in the southern region of Calabria
and gone beyond the country's borders.
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