I'm wondering how long his sentence is.

Stories like that doesn't sound like a reversal of the Sicilian Mafia’s fortune, quite the opposite lol

Serving a 20 year sentence D'Ambrogio still has to serve about 10 probably at 41-bis.

The current generation is more educated, modern and have nothing to do with the violent past. The Mafia still has a huge influence on the Island and it's the largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Angelo Monaco, 66, of Noto, indicated by the magistrates of the DDA of Catania as the regent of the Trigila clan of Noto, was released earlier this month.

Monaco is a major figure in Catania. He has been involved in numerous anti-mafia investigations: he was arrested in Easter 2017 as part of an operation conducted by the Guardia di Finanza and the Noto police for an alleged extortion against a company for the management of urban sanitation in Noto. Furthermore, he was arrested in the same year in Villa San Giovanni with a load of 70 kilos of drugs.

We need a Jerry Capeci or a good American crime journalist over there, they would never run out of mob stories.

Ambush of a offender and his sister, shots fired at the car
by Editorial Staff | 08/23/2023
Ambush with shooting in the street in Gela . Double attempted murder yesterday afternoon. Two young men aboard a scooter and with their faces covered by helmets fired at a car in which there were two people, a brother and a sister. When the two vehicles crossed at via Ruggero Settimo, the two young men on the scooter opened fire.

The wounded, fortunately slightly, reached the Vittorio Emanuele hospital in their own car. Salvatore Azzarelli, 46, with a history of mafia association, was shot in the thigh. The sister traveling alongside him, a 40-year-old woman, was allegedly grazed. The investigations conducted by the police officers of the Gela police station who are trying to trace the perpetrators.

Azzarelli first on the second row.

https://www.antiracketgela.it/operazione-inferis/

Influential mafia boss Lauria dead

Quaestor prohibits public funeral of an alleged boss

The questore of Agrigento, Emanuele Ricifari , banned, for reasons of public order and safety, the public funeral for the alleged boss of Licata Giovanni Lauria. The 83-year-old man is believed to be the "head of the Licata mafia family" as claimed by the magistrates who coordinated the "Xydi" operation. Lauria died last Sunday, probably due to a heart attack.

The criminal profile and caliber
An old-fashioned man of honor who knows how to maintain relationships not only with the bosses and local followers but also with the families of Catania, Enna and the Trapani area. In the interceptions carried out by the Ros, the criminal caliber of the "Professor" is underlined who, as spokesman for Giuseppe Falsone, has been the protagonist of highly significant associative dynamics which have involved the top management of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. "He is placed after Riina and Provenzano, then he is placed at the level of ... he was Provenzano's postman, both Provenzano's brother-in-law's postman and then coordinator of all the provinces". As an "old-fashioned" mafioso, the 'professor' respects the rules of the so-called "old mafia", such as contempt for drug trafficking and the prohibition of killing women and children, but, at the same time, he is inflexible in punishing those who he was responsible for a shortcoming.

Assets worth 12 million euros were confiscated by the Catania Financial Police from William Alfonso Cerbo , 41, believed to be a leading exponent of the mafia clan called "i Carcagnusi" of the boss Santo Mazzei. The provision is based on investigations by the Gico of the economic and financial police unit of the Fiamme Gialle coordinated by the DDA of the Etna Prosecutor's Office. The investigation resulted, in April 2014, in the Scarface operation with which Cerbo and 15 others under investigation for mafia association, fraudulent transfer of values, fraudulent bankruptcy and corruption were arrested.

Back in 2016, Cerbo had 44 million euros in assets seized. He claimed only 80,000 in earnings in a 14-year period, but they said the figure was closer to 2 million. But yet they seized 44 million, so even 2 million is small. We love to talk about the times when these figures are exaggerated by law enforcement, but it also goes the other way around.

Ambush in Ribera, in the province of Agrigento. Antonino Ruvolo, 43 years old, was wounded late on Saturday evening by gunfire. The ambush took place in front of the 'Combat gym' martial arts gym, in the Milillo district, managed by Ruvolo himself.
According to initial information, the victim of the ambush is not in danger of dying. Police investigations are underway.

Attack on the Catania mafia with 13 arrests, the leaders of the Toscano-Tomasello-Mazzaglia clan in handcuffs: the names

https://news.italy24.press/local/864655.html

Genoa, mafia, the Dia: "In the city there are elements linked to the Riina clan, the 'ndrangheta remains the strongest organization in the area"
by Editorial Staff

Thu 14 September 2023

The presence of men from the Lo Piccolo family has been detected, linked to the ring of the "boss of bosses"

In Liguria, the Anti-Mafia Investigation Directorate recently detected "the dusty presence of subjects already recognized as members of the Lo Piccolo family from Palermo". The Lo Piccolio are linked to Totò Riina, the boss at the head of the Corleonesi, the ruthless wing of the mafia. The presence of members of the Sicilian clans of the Emmanuello and the Galatolo-Fontana family is also documented.

The 'ndrangheta, however, remains the most branched criminal organization in Liguria. "The Calabrian mafia crime represents the main indigenous criminal phenomenon present in the area with its own structured structures and, specifically, the premises of Genoa and Lavagna (Genoa, Ventimiglia and Bordighera (Imperia), indicating "Liguria" as a macro-area" subjected to the control of the Calabrian gangs settled here".

As regards the Camorra, investigators have detected the presence of people affiliated with the Casalesi, Zaza-Mazzarella, Amato-Pagano, D'Amico and Rinaldi clans.

Various foreign associations also operate in the Ligurian territory, especially in drug trafficking, particularly African, South American and Eastern European ones. The Albanian criminal groups, on the other hand, "are at a higher level because they are well structured and capable of interacting directly with the South American cartels".

Hollander, what do you know about Michele Modica? He was involved with the Montreal Mafia and also a very active Mafioso in Sicily. Was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 for a 2005 murder I believe.

He had feud with Pietro Scarcella from Ontario who wanted to kill him , Modica is member of same mandamento as Scaduto brothers , who killed Joe Bravo in Sicily. He is close to Gambino family , Inzerillo's met with him in Toronto i believe. I don't know about life, he was sentenced to 8 years in 2018.

Okay then maybe not life, or it was reduced on appeal. I read that he and Emanuele Cecala were sentenced for the 2005 killing of Antonio Canu.

COSA NOSTRA
The Italian mafia regroups after the death of capo Messina Denaro
The Cosa Nostra eschews headline-grabbing murders in favor of drug trafficking and corruption
Mafia Italiana Messina Denaro
The hearse with deceased mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrives at the cemetery in the Sicilian city of Castelvetrano; September 27, 2023.
STRINGER (REUTERS)
LORENA PACHO
Rome - SEP 30, 2023 - 17:25 CEST
Longtime boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who died in prison in late September, had become an elephant in the room for the Sicilian mafia. He was the last capo from a bloody era marked by bombings, public massacres and clan warfare. His high media profile drew dangerous attention to the Italian mafia, yet he still received help evading capture for three decades while managing operations until his arrest in January.

Things started to change in the Cosa Nostra when the legendary Messina was finally incarcerated in the L’Aquila maximum-security prison. After his death, doubts resurfaced about the current state of the historic Sicilian criminal organization. Now, it appears to be regrouping, intending to once again operate discreetly under the radar of authorities. However, Pasquale Angelosanto, the Carabinieri (Italy’s national police force) general who arrested Messina, warned that the organization is “alive and strong.”


Pietro Grasso, a former national anti-mafia prosecutor, has also warned that the Sicilian organization has entered a new phase, but remains active. “With the death of Matteo Messina Denaro, a life full of violence, conspiracies and mysteries comes to an end. A Cosa Nostra era also ends, but not the Cosa Nostra itself. The organization did not disappear after the deaths of Salvatore Totò Riina and Bernardo Provenzano, and it persists even today. The Cosa Nostra continues to change and evolve but remains the primary obstacle to a Sicily and an Italy free from violence, blackmail, and poverty,” he said.

Antonio Nicaso, an academic and author focusing on mafias, told EL PAÍS that the Cosa Nostra is currently undergoing a reorganization, leaving behind the violent era of attacks in the 1980s and 1990s on individuals and institutions by a Corleone clan led by Riina and top lieutenant Messina Denaro. “The Sicilian mafia is returning to its roots, resorting to violence only when absolutely necessary. The reign of the Corleone clan was an anomaly in the history of this criminal organization,” said Nicaso.

The Sicilian mafia is once again focusing on crime and corruption, as evidenced by recent seizures of large amounts of cocaine in Palermo and Catania. According Nicaso, an organized crime expert who advises governments and organizations, the Cosa Nostra is attempting to regain the ground it lost during its wave of violence in the 1990s. During this period, the ‘Ndrangheta (the Calabrian mafia) quietly became the most powerful and wealthy criminal organization in Italy, while the government focused on the Cosa Nostra.

“Now the Cosa Nostra is reestablishing its connections with politicians, government institutions, and the top echelons of the business and finance world. It’s more interested in making money and acquiring power than using violence and challenging the government,” said Nicaso, who also pointed out that mafias traditionally don’t directly challenge the government. “They attempt to infiltrate the economic framework, forging connections with politics and finance. This form of violence, rooted in corruption and power dynamics, proves challenging to identify and combat.” According to Nicaso, the mafia has consistently been a major economic force due to its involvement in international heroin trafficking and extensive global network of drug labs. Messina initiated the shift toward a business-oriented approach, which drew criticism from his mentor, Salvatore Totò Riina. Nicaso believes it’s too early to write off the Sicilian mafia, as it has a remarkable ability to adapt and regenerate.

Italian authorities are unsure of the exact details of the reorganization, but they acknowledge that the end of the mafia is still a distant goal. According to the latest report by the Anti-Mafia Directorate (DIA), the capture of Messina Denaro has weakened the organization and exacerbated the leadership issues it experienced after the deaths of Totò Riina in 2017 and Bernardo Provenzano in 2016. However, the report suggests that the organization’s operations in Sicily remain unaffected and are not expected to abate.

Messina had been Italy’s most wanted mafia boss since 1993 due to his involvement in hundreds of crimes, including the brutal attacks that led to the deaths of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992. Last January, he was arrested in the Sicilian town of Campobello di Mazzara, near his hometown of Castelvetrano. He had been living a seemingly normal life with a fake identity, aided by a network of accomplices. Messina died in prison without showing any remorse for his crimes, taking all his secrets to the grave.

Matteo Messina Denaro
Matteo Messina Denaro’s mug shot after his arrest in Palermo, Italy, on January 16, 2023.
CARABINIERI (VIA REUTERS)
Italian investigators now know that Messina led a strong clan in the Province of Trapani (west coast of Sicily), a mafia stronghold. However, he didn’t hold the title of “boss of bosses” in Sicily, which is the highest position in the mafia hierarchy. Totò Riina, was the last such leader in a hierarchical structure that likely died with him. Still, Messina wielded tremendous power, and was an important figurehead for other crime families, says Angelosanto.

Maurizio De Lucia, Palermo’s chief prosecutor, believes that Messina was “a very important figure in mafia dynamics. As Totò Riina second-in-command, he was well aware of the organization’s rules and its many secrets, especially all the massacres in 1992 and 1993.” He stressed that only someone from Palermo would be allowed to lead all the Sicilian clans. Investigations reveal that Messina’s Trapani clan remains active. It has infiltrated the legitimate economy by corrupting politicians and businessmen, and continues to traffic drugs.

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https://english.elpais.com/internat...er-the-death-of-capo-messina-denaro.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ke-mafia-code-Matteo-Messina-Denaro.html

Fearless businesswoman who broke mafia code of silence to secretly record Sicilian mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro's cousin says 'The Devil has returned to Hell' after godfather's death aged 62

Cosa nostra earns billions per year from drug trafficking, Several billion euros from economic white-collar crime (corrupt tenders, money laundering ), close to 200 million from prostitution , a billion to the arms trade and several hundred million in extortion and usury.

Even today they tend to stay away from prostitution, in South Italy you have eastern European girls working prostitution, under some eastern guys , who of course pay percent to the local mafia family.

Messina Denaro was famous when it came to hookers/orgies though LOL
He was the playboy Don !

In nine European countries (Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, and Turkey), prostitution is legal and regulated.

Belgium became the first country in Europe to decriminalize sex work since 1 June 2022.

Antonio D'Alì, the Supreme Court speaks: ''He favored Totò Riina and Matteo Messina Denaro''
Luca Grossi 03 October 2023
The reasons for the conviction for the former senator of Forza Italia have been filed
On 13 December 2022, the six-year prison sentence became final for the former senator and former undersecretary of the interior of Forza Italia Antonio D'Alì, accused of external complicity in a mafia association in consolidated relationships with the Messina Denaro , father and son .

As written in the 24 pages of reasons for the supreme court ruling filed in recent days (President Morini Stefano and Speaker Casa Filippo ) D'Alì "contributed to the support of Cosa Nostra by making his economic resources available and, subsequently, his role institutional role of Senator of the Republic and Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior, having obtained electoral support since the early 1990s and having maintained, in exchange for the requested support, direct or mediated relationships with leading exponents of the association, among the such as Matteo Messina Denaro , Vincenzo Virga , Francesco Pace , Antonino Birrittella andTommaso Coppola ".

The Supreme Court thus rejected the appeal presented by the lawyer of the former senator Fabrizio Merluzzi , accepting, instead, the request of the deputy attorney general Simone Perrelli .

The appealed sentence which has now become final reports that "D'Alì concluded in 2001 (after already twenty years of availability towards the mafia association) a political/mafia pact (yet another) with Cosa Nostra under which the association guaranteed him the electoral support which allowed the accused to be elected to the Senate again (an election which then served as a starting point for the acquisition of the position of Undersecretary at the Ministry of the Interior)".

The former senator, writes the Court of Cassation, has "certainly undertaken serious and concrete commitments in favor of the mafia association" by carrying out external collaboration activities " in favor of Cosa Nostra and its top exponents of the caliber of Totò Riina and Matteo Messina Denaro " and this is indicated by "his already stable, reliable, proven and twenty-year willingness to spend himself in favor of Cosa Nostra".

The reasons state that "it does not appear that D'Alì has ever severed his relations" with the mafia organization and "has ever revoked his willingness to act in favor of the association or individuals who colluded with it".

The affair of Calcestruzzi Ericina and the threats to the Prefect Fulvio Sodano
D'Alì, we read in the document, "concretely spent on the association also from 2001 onwards, trying to frustrate the efforts of the institutions to help Calcestruzzi Ericina (a all to the advantage of Cosa Nostra), threatening and scolding the prefect Sodanoso that he would stop helping Calcestruzzi Ericina, working towards the transfer of Sodano (whose actions in favor of Calcestruzzi Ericina were disliked by Cosa Nostra and a harbinger of economic damage for the association), promising interventions in favor of Pace so that he would regain the availability of assets seized from him as part of prevention measures, demonstrating willingness to intervene in favor of Coppola's businesses - still at the beginning of 2006 - despite the fact that he was in prison for the mafia (while only at a later time was this willingness prudentially - not denied or revoked but simply - postponed until the 'waters' had 'calmed', that is, when the attention - of public opinion and the administrative and judicial authorities - on Coppola had subsided)".

The accusations reported by the Court of Cassation
The judges reported in the reasons that the former senator was accused of "having sold land he owned to Francesco Geraci (frontman of Salvatore Riina , on the express mandate of Matteo Messina Denarothereby contributing to strengthening the control of economic activities by Cosa Nostra which relied on this support in making its criminal-entrepreneurial choices. By way of example, the charge cites the formation of the tender commission for the awarding of the contract for the construction of the Erice cable car, the assessment of the adequacy of the rent for the Carabinieri barracks of San Vito Lo Capo, the disbursement of financing relating to the Trapani North territorial pact and supplies for the safety of the port of Castellammare del Golfo".

The accusations had been contested by D'Alì's defense who had requested the annulment without postponement but the judges decided differently, also contesting the arguments provided by the former senator's lawyers.

Mafia: murder of policeman Agostino, life sentence confirmed for boss Nino Madonia
By Editorial Staff |
05 October 2023
Palermo, 5 Oct. Life sentence confirmed for the mafia boss Nino Madonia for the murder of the policeman Nino Agostino and his wife Ida Castelluccio, who was pregnant, which occurred on 5 August 1989. The Assize Court of Appeal of Palermo reiterated, after almost five hours of deliberation, the first degree sentence. Even if in partial reform compared to the first instance sentence because the judges did not confirm the aggravating circumstances for the death of the policeman's wife. The defendant was also ordered to pay costs and civil claims. During the indictment, the magistrates of the General Prosecutor's Office had reiterated, citing the declarations of various repentants such as Vito Lo Forte, Gaspare Mutolo, Enzo Brusca, Giusto Di Natale, Francesco Di Carlo, Francesco Marino Mannoia, Giuseppe Marchese and Nino Giuffrè,

Another trial is underway on the matter, with the ordinary procedure, in which the boss Gaetano Scotto, accused of murder like Madonia, who chose the shortened one, and Francesco Paolo Rizzuto, friend of the victim, accused of aiding and abetting, are accused. This morning, shortly before the council chamber, the accused Madonia surprisingly made spontaneous statements. “I didn't kill them. I am innocent”, reiterated the boss. In the first instance sentence, the preliminary hearing judge Alfredo Montalto also spoke of "misdirection", also reporting that attempted "by one of the most well-known mafia exponents in prison, Giuseppe Graviano". According to the preliminary hearing judge, the massacre boss "on 14 July 2020 released from the Terni prison in which he was detained,

“According to the boss, the instigators of the Agostino murder should be sought among the men close to the boss Contorno”. “Moreover – wrote the investigating judge – Graviano adds that the motive for the double murder should be identified in the investigations that Agostino allegedly started into the management of his collaborator Contorno and in the involvement of Agostino himself in the failed attack in Addaura against Giovanni Falcone”. Today the appeal sentence confirms Madonia's life sentence.

Jailed Mafia boss Giuseppe Graviano described has ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi as a traitor in a bugged conversation with a fellow inmate.

The transcript of the conversation has been included in evidence for the trial into alleged negotiations between the State and the Mafia in the early 1990s.

“When Berlusconi started in the 1970s he started on the right foot, throw in some luck and he ended up what he is,” Graviano said.

“When he found himself with a such a (big) party in 1994, he got drunk and said ‘I can’t share what I have with those who helped me’. He distanced himself and was a traitor.”

Graviano was taped as he talked to a cellmate during an hour in the open air at Ascoli Piceno jail.

“Berlusconi asked me for this favour… that’s why there was the urgency,” he said.

“He wanted to come down…but in that period there were the old guys and he told me it would take a beautiful thing”.

He also said he been “abandoned” by Berlusconi and he would retaliate by “making Mr Cuckold spend a bad old age”.

He went on: “He knows that I won’t talk, because he knows my character and my abilities… dirty cuckold, you’re nothing else, but just tell them how you are in government, that you did shameful and unjust things.

“You know that I’ve done 24 years, my family is destroyed … you’re giving wh*res money every month.

“I waited for you up till now…and you are letting me die in jail without me having done anything.

“I brought you prosperity, 24 years ago they arrest me and you start stabbing me (in the back).”

Bombings that killed 20 at art and religious sites in Rome and Milan in spring and summer 1993 were not the work of the Sicilian Mafia, Graviano said.

Referring to the Mafia’s 1992 killings of anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, he said “then there were other massacres in ’93 but that wasn’t the mafia, they say it was the mafia”.

He pointed out that the government had eased the tough 41-bis jail regime and then, in November ’93, eased conditions for 450 bosses.

Prosecutors allege that Cosa Nostra set ending the 41-bis prison regime as a condition for ending its bombing campaign.

In February 2020 Giuseppe Graviano was heard at the “'Ndrangheta massacre” trial, then underway in Reggio Calabria , in which he was accused of the murder of the carabinieri Antonino Fava and Vincenzo Garofalo which occurred in 1994 [22] . He recounts in detail the relationships that historically link his family to Berlusconi , known and frequented by the Gravianos even before he took the field with Forza Italia .

Graviano stated that his family, starting from his maternal grandfather Filippo Quartararo in the early 1970s , invested tens of billions of lire in the real estate sector with Berlusconi, with a starting share of 20 billion lire collected with other Palermo families as a of financiers. The first meeting with Berlusconi took place at the Quark hotel in Milan in 1983 , together with his grandfather Filippo and his cousin Salvatore Graviano (known as Salvo ). The thing would have continued quickly until 1993 , the year in which, already on the run for almost a decade - and repaired to Omegna , which according to him left him without particular precautions to frequentMilan , not only for business meetings, but also to go to the cinema, to the theatre, to go shopping in Via Montenapoleone - in December, he would have met again with Berlusconi who would have been aware of his absconding. The aim was to regularize the situation and bring out the names of the financiers who had supported his grandfather, because their names only appeared on a private document in Salvatore's possession. Graviano explains that the turnover was now impressive, as the real estate interests also concerned Milano 3 , stating: " There Berlusconi had given my cousin an apartment, we also had a dinner ".

DIA REPORT, COSA NOSTRA ABROAD: THE "CRIMINAL MAP" OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
Joska Arena
Saturday 7 October 2023

In the fight against Sicilian organized crime, the Dia Report (Anti-Mafia Investigation Department) of the "second half of 2022" on organized crime reveals a growing presence and threat of the organization in Europe and in the world. Illicit activities, with a focus on drug trafficking , have deep roots in Sicily, exporting violence and corruption. The DIA emerges as a key structure for international collaboration to counter the expansion of this transnational criminal organization

The Sicilian Mafia rooted in Europe: drug trafficking and illegal activities constantly increasing


Drug trafficking and the illicit activities of the Sicilian mafia are intensifying in various European nations, recent investigations and law enforcement operations reveal.

Netherlands: “Privileged gateway” for South American drugs

Thanks to its internationally trade-oriented economy and advanced logistics facilities, the Netherlands, with its ports of Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport , has become a major European gateway for cocaine from South America . The Calabrian 'Ndrangheta in particular but also other mafias and the Sicilian Cosa Nostra are active in drug trafficking and money laundering, taking advantage of the central location and the Dutch transport network. The recent involvement of high-profile fugitives underlines the complexity of the situation.

Belgium and the Netherlands are the two countries that in particular are intensifying international cooperation with the DIA and law enforcement efforts to stem the tide of drug trafficking and mafia infiltration. The fight is complex, but the authorities are determined to preserve the security and integrity of their territories.

The other EU countries

The problem of Italian organized crime, with particular reference to the Sicilian mafia, continues to extend its roots beyond national borders, with recent reports of illicit activities in several European countries.

Cosa Nostra and its consolidated roots in the United States, Canada and Latin America


United States of America: The mafia presence in America is rooted in history , with Cosa Nostra influencing criminal affairs since the Great Migration. The GAMBINO family, the New York families (BONANNO, COLOMBO, GENOVESE and LUCCHESE), and others have found fertile ground for activities such as drug trafficking.

Recently, a mafia boss from Castellammare del Golfo had his assets seized, highlighting the continued ties between the Sicilian and Italian-American mafias.

The 'Ndrangheta and Campanian and Apulian associations are also involved, with recent operations demonstrating their operational presence in the United States.

Canada: Montreal, Toronto and Thunder Bay are the established theaters of Italian Mafia operations, with Cosa Nostra in Montreal and 'Ndrangheta in Toronto and Thunder Bay. Illicit activities range from drug trafficking to usury, from extortion to gambling.

The “Canadian 'Ndrangheta Connection2” operation revealed hierarchical structures directly linking Canadian mafia organizations with those in Italy.

https://ilsicilia.it/rapporto-dia-c...pa-criminale-delle-alleanze-strategiche/

I hate it when they call loansharking usury.

ROS anti-mafia blitz in Valguarnera Caropepe, seven arrests
Enna's family had reorganized itself after the release of boss Sebastiano Gurgone in 2019
08:24

Seven people were arrested by the Carabinieri del Ros and by the soldiers of the Provincial Command of Enna, during the anti-mafia operation called "Stiela" which shed light on the interests of Cosa Nostra in the Dittaino Valley, the main production area of ??Ennese, with the pressures of the racket on entrepreneurs, and on the internal balance of the organization after the release of Sebastiano Gurgone in 2019, now back in prison at the age of 71, together with Sebastiano Calcagno, 34, Giuseppe and Cristofero Scibona, father and son aged 70 and 45 respectively, all residents of Valguarnera Caropepe, on charges of mafia-style criminal association and extortion aggravated by the mafia method.

Antonino Martorana, 51 years old, accused of money laundering, Filippo Greco, 63, who allegedly provided support and assistance to the members of the organization, and finally Rosario Catalano, 84 years old, for the crime of usury, ended up under house arrest.

Gurgone, since his release from prison, would have implemented a system of collecting protection money "with the indispensable complicity - is the thesis of the magistrates - of Calcagno, Cristofero and Giuseppe Scibona". The money would arrive "on an annual basis" from two entrepreneurs.

The clan headed by Gurgone himself - on several occasions, the boss would have proclaimed with satisfaction his status as a man of honor - would also have had the availability of weapons, some of which belonged to Domenico Calcagno, considered an "element of importance" of Cosa Nostra from Enna killed in 2003 due to internal conflicts within the mafia, as well as father of Sebastiano, one of Gurgone's closest collaborators, together with Cristofero and Giuseppe Scibona, respectively nephew and brother-in-law of the deceased mafia boss.

Martorana also apparently played a role in one of the two extortions, issuing an invoice in favor of the victim for services never performed with the aim of disguising the real reason for the transfer of money. Greco, on the other hand, would have acted as an intermediary between Gurgone and the owner of a commercial business in Valguarnera Caropepe, while Catalano would have loaned money to the same victim.