The ten-year affair regarding the repatriation of Chico Forti. Almost 24 years after the life sentence for the murder of Dale Pike, which occurred in June 2000, the 65-year-old from Trentino is no longer an inmate of the Florida State prison in Miami, but has been transferred to a federal facility by Immigration and Constoms Enforcement, the US immigration agency. According to what is learned from the Farnesina, in Forti’s file from the Florida Department of Correction, the date of commencement of custody, 7 July 2000, was added to 15 May 2024, indicated as the date of release. “For me now the rebirth begins,” Chico said to people close to him shortly before his transfer, for which he said he was “very positive”. In the meantime, the hearing has already been held in Miami in which Forti signed the agreement with the US federal judge to serve the remainder of his sentence in Italy.
Chico Forti: «My children will come to visit me in Italy. I will go to prison, but I will finally hug my mother again”
Ready to return
This is the last step before returning, after the Court of Appeal of Trento converted the US sentence. According to some sources close to Forti, the transfer should take place within two or three weeks. Born in Trento in 1959, Forti dedicated an early part of his life to sport, distinguishing himself in particular in windsurfing. Starting in the 1990s he moved to Florida where he began a career as a producer of documentary films and that of a television presenter and also engaged in real estate brokerage. In 1998 he was involved in the murder of Dale Pike, for which he has always declared himself innocent. On June 15, 2000, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the crime by a jury in Miami’s Dade County. His case has caused quite a stir in Italy, also in relation to some television broadcasts which have reconstructed the trial story.
After a particularly long process and a discussion that lasted for years, the authorization for the transfer was announced by the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, following a discussion in Washington with the President of the United States, Joe Biden, on March 1st. For the moment, Forti’s family is maintaining a certain confidentiality about his situation. The uncle, Gianni Forti, confirmed the transfer to the federal structure and hoped that the repatriation would take place as soon as possible. “For our part there is great hope that the time will be short,” he told ANSA. In any case, Forti will not return to Italy as a free man: he will have to serve the remaining sentence according to Italian law, being able to access reward permits, semi-freedom and finally conditional release over time.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
