Over 400 years in prison for 47 defendants and seven acquittals: this is the sentence of the trial, celebrated with the abbreviated rite, issued by the Gup Dora Catena hinged on the Agorà investigation of the DDA of the Etna Prosecutor’s Office on relations between the Santapaola family of Catania and the Nardo clan of Lentini, both belonging to Cosa Nostra, who allegedly did business together, in drug trafficking and in the control of the entrepreneurial fabric, but also had economic conflicts in sectors of common interest. The investigations by the Carabinieri of the ROS of Catania and the provincial command of Syracuse gave rise to the precautionary measure which on 16 June 2022 led to the arrest of 47 people and the notification of a non-restrictive order for nine other suspects.
Among the sentences imposed: 11 years and 8 months of imprisonment to Gioacchino Francesco Gianfranco La Rocca, son of the historic mafia boss “Ciccio” who died in December 2020, twenty years to Salvatore Rinaldi, 19 years and 4 months to Antonino Guercio, 16 years to Gesualdo Briganti, 14 years and 6 months to Orazio Papale. Mario Brullo, Vincenzo Comparato, Francesco Giordano, Domenico Querulo, Egidio Russo and Gabriele Garasi were acquitted. The preliminary hearing judge also ordered the confiscation of Cutrera onoranze funebri srl and its business complex, the release from seizure and restitution to the legitimate owner of the individual business Salvatore Orefice and compensation for damages, to be paid separately, towards the Municipalities of Vizzini and Caltagirone who had become a civil party in the trial.
During the military investigations the force seized a total of 108 kilos of marijuana, 2.6 kg of cocaine and 57 kg of hashish. According to the DDA of the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office, thanks to the Carabinieri’s investigations it would also have been “documented how some employees of the Municipality of Caltagirone, not recipients of precautionary measures, but under investigation” would have “shaped the tenders to favor companies attributable to La Rocca”.
