More than 200 people were sentenced Monday in Italy to sentences of up to 30 years in prison, following a “maxi-trial” against the ‘Ndrangheta, the most powerful mafia on the peninsula.
Of the 338 defendants who appeared in first instance before the court in Lamezia Terme (south), 207 were found guilty and sentenced, while 131 were acquitted.
The prosecution had requested a total of nearly 5,000 years in prison against the mafiosi as well as their white-collar accomplices, civil servants, local elected officials and even high-ranking police officers.
The sentences, read by judge Brigida Cavasino, range from a few months in prison to 30 years in prison, a sentence received by four people.
One of the most prominent defendants, former senator Giancarlo Pittelli, 70, was sentenced to 11 years in prison while the prosecution had requested a sentence of 17 years.
Based in Calabria, a very poor region located in the tip of the Italian Boot, the ‘Ndrangheta is the richest and most powerful of the Italian mafias.
Present in around forty countries, it exerts a stifling hold on its homeland, infiltrating and corrupting the administration while imposing its iron law on the population.
Since January 2021, three judges have heard thousands of hours of witnesses, including around fifty repentant mafiosi who have become collaborators of justice, on the activities of the Mancuso family and its associates, an important ‘Ndrangheta clan controlling the province of Vibo Valentia.
The trial, which took place in a heavily guarded bunker in Lamezia Terme, is the largest against the mafia in more than 30 years.
Although long underestimated in favor of other mafias like Cosa Nostra, the ‘Ndrangheta has quietly flourished over the decades. Currently, it is estimated to achieve an annual turnover of around 50 billion euros worldwide.