The former parish priest of the Latina San Marco cathedral, Don Maurizio Verlezza, arrested: accused of bringing drugs into the Velletri prison
After the arrest for drug possession and dealing in the Velletri prison, the arrest of the former parish priest of the church of San Marco was validated. Following the guarantee interrogation, the judge for preliminary investigations of the Court of Velletri issued a precautionary custody order under house arrest for Don Maurizio Verlezza who will be transferred from prison to his home in Rome.
Don Verlezza had been parish priest of the San Marco church in Latina. Now, the 63-year-old priest must answer to the accusation of having introduced one kilo and 50 grams of drugs into the Velletri prison.
The priest, who currently manages the religious center in via Mazzini and is director of the Don Bosco oratory in Genzano, was arrested on Thursday 9 May following a check carried out by penitentiary police officers in the Veliterno prison where the man Church had the function of chaplain.
According to the prosecution, Don Verlezza brought a kilo of marijuana, 50 grams of cocaine and two cell phones to the Velletri prison. The package, intended for some inmates, was supposed to contain only basic necessities, in particular clothes, but when the prison police checked it, the drugs turned up.
Furthermore, a search was also carried out in his accommodation within the religious institute. 20 thousand euros in cash would also have been found and seized there.
A circumstance, the latter, denied by Don Gian Luigi Pussino who spoke as spokesperson for the Salesians of Central Italy.
“As Salesians of Central Italy we have learned with deep pain and concern the judicial news regarding facts relating to the Salesian Priest Don Maurizio Verlezza. We are aware that all this seriously damages civil coexistence, the ecclesial community, and in particular the prison institution in its re-education and rehabilitation function: institutions and bodies involved in a unitary civil and social purpose in which the mission of the Congregation is also inserted Salesian and which consists in constantly working to train good Christians and honest citizens. We confirm the esteem and trust in the person of Don Maurizio, always generous and passionate in his daily dedication especially for adults and young people in particular situations of hardship and difficulty, and we find it difficult to even hypothesize that he voluntarily and consciously acted in contradiction with those values on which he bases his life on.
We trust in the judicial authorities and the investigative bodies committed to outlining what really happened, and we welcome the decision with which Don Maurizio was placed under house arrest.
We feel it is necessary to make some corrections to obvious errors reported by various newspapers. Don Maurizio Verlezza, until now domiciled in Genzano, is not Superior of the Institute; he is not a parish priest; he is not Director of the Oratory which is instead entrusted to a group of lay people for the coordination of activities. Only for a few months has he been part of the operators who carry out service within the Velletri prison. From the search and from the documents, no amount of money was seized.”
