The preliminary hearing judge Elisabetta Stampacchia sentenced nine defendants accused of drug dealing in the central area of Palermo, near the Vittorio Emanuele II classical high school. The condemned are Rosario and Emanuele Ferdico, aged 46 and 23, the first at 14 years and 8 months, the second at 10 months; Alessandro Simonetti, 23 years old, (8 years old); Giuseppe Bona, 23 years old (12 years); Domenico Ferdico, 28 years old (8 years); Giuseppe La Mantia, 23 years old (6 years and 6 months); Alessandro Pampillonia, 39 years old (6 years); Angelo Lombino, 40 years old (8 years and 4 months); Alfredo Mazzola, 31 years old (1 year and 4 months). For all, the sentence was discounted by a third, as provided for by the abbreviated procedure. They were defended by lawyers Michele and Giuseppe Rubino, Rocco Chinnici, Riccardo Bellotta, Max Molfettini, Manfredi Emanuele and Salvatore Gambino.
The investigations were conducted by the Carabinieri of Palermo Centro in 2019 and 2020, following reports from parents, regarding drug dealing to minors in the high school area. The drug dealing base was Vicolo Nuovo, a stone’s throw from the school. Hundreds of transfers have been confirmed, many of them to minors as young as 14 years old. Cocaine, hashish and marijuana were sold. The social chats extrapolated from the phones seized from the defendants, with which work shifts were organised, were decisive. Over four kilos of drugs were seized during the operation.
