- Seventy members of Italy’s powerful Ndrangheta organized crime family were convicted, in the largest mafia trial in more than 30 years
- Since January, a specially adapted courtroom has hosted the “maxi trial” of hundreds of suspects affiliated with the Ndrangheta, the country’s wealthiest and most powerful mafia family
- The Ndrangheta is entrenched in Calabria, one of Italy’s poorest regions, and has surpassed Sicily’s Cosa Nostra in power and wealth, controlling much of Europe’s cocaine trade
LAMEZIA TERME, Italy: Seventy members of Italy’s powerful Ndrangheta organized crime family were convicted, in the largest mafia trial in more than 30 years.
In a courtroom in the Calabrian city of Lamezia Terme, Judge Claudio Paris read out verdicts and sentences against 91 defendants.
In proceedings expected to last over two years, 355 suspects are still to be tried, but those sentenced on Saturday opted for a speedy trial..
Since January, a specially adapted courtroom has hosted the “maxi trial” of hundreds of suspects affiliated with the Ndrangheta, the country’s wealthiest and most powerful mafia family.
Nicola Gratteri, the anti-mafia prosecutor who has lived under police protection for more than 30 years due to his work against the Ndrangheta, said the sentencing had gone “very well.”
He told Italian news agency Adnkronos, “Out of 91 defendants, there were 70 presumed innocent who were convicted.”
Some of the group’s most dangerous members received the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison requested by prosecutors, including Domenico Macri and Pasquale Gallone, the right-hand man of alleged boss Luigi Mancuso.
Gratteri stated that some one-third of the group’s members received sentences of ten years or more, while 21 individuals were acquitted, seven at the request of prosecutors.
The Ndrangheta is entrenched in Calabria, one of Italy’s poorest regions, and has surpassed Sicily’s Cosa Nostra in power and wealth, controlling much of Europe’s cocaine trade.
The most important conviction in the prosecution’s case, Mancuso, 67, also known as “The Uncle,” is considered the leader of the Ndrangheta families who dominated the Vibo Valentia province of Calabria, and has opted for a longer trial.
Italy’s legendary maxi-trial of 1986-1987 against Sicily’s Cosa Nostra resulted in 338 convictions and led to the assassination of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
