Appeals court convicts 46, acquits 13 in Turin mafia trial

(ANSA) – Turin, December 5 – The appeals phase of the so-called Minotaur mega-trial into the presence of the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia in the greater Turin area ended Thursday with 46 convictions, 13 acquittals, and sentences totalling 210 years in prison.

The largest investigation into organized crime in the Italian north-west in the past 15 years, Minotaur began in 2006 and culminated in 146 arrests in 2011. Prosecutors built their case around the revelations of informant Rocco Varacalli, who identified ten “locals” or ‘Ndrangheta mafia groups in the greater Turin area that were in direct contact with the clans back home in Calabria.

Their operations aimed at infiltrating local administrations, muscling in on public contracts, and extortion.

The subsequent trial resulted in 38 acquittals and 36 convictions, with sentences ranging from 21.5 years to 20 months.

A former mayor, Nevio Coral, was sentenced to 10 years for Mafia association, while MEP Fabrizio Bertot, the former mayor of the town of Rivarolo, had his case transferred to another jurisdiction on vote-rigging charges. The Rivarolo administration was dissolved due to Mafia infiltration. Today’s appeal involved 62 of those defendants, who had opted for a fast-track trial and who had been handed a total of 400 years in prison at the original trial.