Dozens convicted as Italy begins huge Mafia trial
An Italian court has sentenced 70 members of the powerful mafia group, the 'Ndrangheta, in the first stage of the biggest mafia trial in decades. The 'Ndrangheta is a sprawling criminal network consisting of some 150 families. This trial is targeting just one of those 150 families: The Mancuso family. Defendants faced charges including attempted murder and extortion.
Over the next two years, 355 alleged mobsters and corrupt officials will face court for their involvement with Italy's richest and most powerful organised crime group. Hundreds of lawyers and nearly a thousand witnesses are involved.
Those accused had opted for a speedy trial which allowed them to have their sentences reduced by a third if found guilty. Judges handed six of those convicted the maximum 20-year sentence that prosecutors had asked for. Alleged boss Luigi Mancuso, 67, who goes by the nickname "the Uncle", and ex-senator Giancarlo Pittelli, 68, who prosecutors have alleged was his white-collar fixer, will face longer court trials at a later date.
The 'Ndrangheta rose to prominence after the maxi trials of the late 1980s, which significantly weakened Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia families. The 'Ndrangheta is involved in a wide range of illegal activities, but it specialises in cocaine trafficking and is believed to control about 80% of Europe's trade.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59196463
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“Fatty, Blondie and Big Nose among bizarre nicknames of 300 mobsters in Italy’s biggest mafia trial in decades”
https://www.thesun.ie/news/6408853/355-mobsters-biggest-italy-mafia-trial-decades/
Alleged boss Luigi Mancuso - known as ‘The Uncle'
Credit: Police Handout
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Might as well just call them Moe, Larry and Curly. 