Gianluca Chininea/AFP/Getty Images
The judges delivered their verdict in the so-called Rinascita Scott trial against alleged members of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia in Calabria, on November 20, 2023.
Rome
cnn
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An Italian court has sentenced more than 200 criminal gang members to a total of 2,200 years in prison, following the country’s biggest mafia trial in three decades.
During the trial, which began in January 2021 and took place in a specially built bunker in the southern Italian city of Lamezia Terme, more than 400 lawyers represented the defendants and some 900 witnesses gave evidence.
A panel of three judges, who had been deliberating the fate of the 338 defendants since the trial ended on October 16, issued its verdict on Monday. The court took one hour and 40 minutes to hand down the sentence, Italian media outlet Ansa reported.
Some 207 gangsters were imprisoned and more than 100 were acquitted. Total prison time includes five life sentences and three 30-year sentences.
Among those on trial were 42 women (a record for a mafia trial) of whom 39 were convicted.
Many of the defendants had colorful nicknames – including “El Lobo,” “El Gordo,” “Honey” and “Muslo de Cordero” – that were captured in some 24,000 wiretaps, according to testimony presented during the trial.
Those convicted include former Forza Italia legislator Giancarlo Pittelli; former police chief Giorgio Naselli; former financial police officer Michele Marinaro; former mayor Gianluca Callipo; and former regional councilors Luigi Incarnato and Pietro Giamborino, according to the sentencing document seen by CNN.
Valeria Ferraro/AP
The test was carried out in a specially built bunker in Lamezia Temre, southern Italy, amid security concerns.
The gangsters were affiliated with the famous Italian criminal group ‘Nrangheta and were convicted of mafia association, extortion, bribery and five murders.
The trial was called Rinascita Scott, after US Special Agent Scott W. Sieben, who is credited with uncovering links between the Colombian cartels and the ‘Nrangheta.
Based in the Calabria region of southern Italy, the ‘Ndrangheta is considered the most powerful mafia group in the country and one of the most powerful criminal enterprises in the world, with thousands of members and affiliates around the world, according to the Italian DIA (Anti-Mafia Directorate). According to Europol, it has a monopoly on drug trafficking in Europe.
The three judges lived under police protection during the trial, which lasted two years and ten months.
