Ex MP Pittelli among 200 convicted in maxi Ndrangheta trial

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 20 - 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. (ANSA).