Trial at the Cosa Nostra "Cupola", definitive blow but not for everyone
PALERMO – For some bosses the sentence is final, for others a new appeal process will have to be held.
The trial arising from the raid by the Carabinieri which destroyed the new Commission of Cosa Nostra in 2018 reaches the Court of Cassation. There are cancellations with postponement, appeals not presented and others rejected or inadmissible.
Who did not appeal
For some, the sentence became final even before the supreme judges spoke. In fact, Leandro Greco (12 years), Calogero Lo Piccolo (27 years in continuation with other sentences), Fabio Messicati Vitale (10 years), Salvatore Troia (11 years and 4 months) had given up their appeal to the Court of Cassation and will serve the sentences. , Andrea Ferrante (12 years), Giusto Francesco Mangiapane (6 years), Matteo Maniscalco and Luigi Marino (6 years and 8 months each), Giovanni Sirchia (8 years).
Collaborators of justice
Same thing for the three collaborators of justice: Sergio Macaluso (2 years), Filippo Bisconti (13 years in continuation with a previous conviction) and Francesco Colletti (10 years and 10 days, always in continuation).
For whom there will be a new trial
Annulment with postponement and therefore trial to be redone for Massimo Mulè (defended by lawyers Marco Clementi, Giovanni Castronovo and Francesca Aricò). In the case of the Porta Nuova mafioso (he has already served sentences in the past) it is yet another judicial stage.
For some he was the "puparo" who held the strings in Ballarò , but he was acquitted at first instance. On appeal, the verdict was overturned and he was sentenced to 11 years and 4 months. His lawyers underlined the anomalous procedural progression.
The preliminary investigation had been reopened on appeal and the collaborators came to report episodes that they had not talked about before.
Cancellation with postponement also for Maurizio Crinò (he had been 9 years and 4 months). Defended by the lawyer Tommaso de Lisi, the annulment concerns extortion.
Same thing for Giovanni Salvatore Migliore (he was 8 years and 8 months old). Defended by the lawyer Rocco Chinnici, an attempted extortion and the aggravating circumstance of the armed association must be re-evaluated.
And again for Vincenzo Ganci (defended by lawyers Raffaele Bonsignore and Antonio Gargano, on appeal he was sentenced to 8 years and 8 months for mafia and extortion). The annulment with postponement concerns all charges. The defense will ask for immediate release due to the expiry of the terms of precautionary custody.
Cancellation with postponement also for Settimo Mineo (he had received 21 years in continuation with a previous sentence), he is guilty but the sanctioning treatment must be reviewed.
And finally, a new trial will be needed for Domenico Nocilla (he had been sentenced to 9 years and 8 months, defended by the lawyer Maria Teresa Nascè), but only to re-evaluate one charge; Michele Rubino (he had been given 10 years and 8 months, defended by the lawyers Domenico La Blasca and Michele Giovinco): in his case the appeal is back to re-evaluate the conviction for the mafia.
The new "Cupola"
The bosses of the new mafia convened the Cosa Nostra provincial commission after the death of Totò Riina. Settimo Mineo, Pagliarelli's senior boss, presided over the new Commission in a building in Baida .
Between one pastry and another at his side were Gregorio Di Giovanni from Porta Nuova, Francesco Colletti from Villabate, Leandro Greco from Ciaculli (he is the nephew of Michele Greco, the 'pope' of the old mafia, and lived in a house museum ), Giovanni Sirchia from Passo di Rigano, Calogero Lo Piccolo from San Lorenzo.
They were all arrested in December 2018 by the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of Palermo, coordinated by the then prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi (now in Rome), by the deputy Salvatore De Luca (now prosecutor in Caltanissetta) and by the deputies Amelia Luise ( today at the European Prosecutor's Office), Francesca Mazzocco, Bruno Brucoli, Gaspare Spedale and Dario Scaletta (now councilor of the CSM).
The other final sentences The appeals rejected or inadmissible, and therefore, final sentence for Filippo Cusimano 9 years, Stefano Albanese 9 years, Filippo Annatelli 13 years and 4 months, Giuseppe Bonanno 5 years and 8 months, Carmelo Cacocciola 6 years and 8 months, Francesco Caponetto 13 years and 4 months, Giuseppe Costa 9 years, Rubens D'Agostino 10 years, Gregorio Di Giovanni 11 years and 4 months (against 14 years), Filippo Di Pisa 8 years.
And again: Michele Grasso 8 years and 8 months, Marco La Rosa 6 years and 8 months, Gaetano Leto 12 years and 8 months, Erasmo Lo Bello 12 years, Domenico Mammi 2 years thanks to the mitigating circumstance recognized by his collaborators, Salvatore Mirino 9 years and 4 months, Salvatore Pispicia 12 years, Gaspare Rizzuto 12 years and 4 months, Giovanni Salerno 10 years and six months, Salvatore Sciarabba 13 years, 10 months and 20 days (on appeal he was given 14 years), Giuseppe Serio 13 years and 4 months, Salvatore Sorrentino 10 years, Salvatore Ferrante one year.
