Sentence discount on appeal for the former Head of Civil Protection and an entrepreneur – BisceglieLive.it

The Bari Court of Appeal has reduced the sentences imposed on the former head of the Civil Protection of the Puglia Region, Mario Lerario, and on the Foggia entrepreneur Luca Leccese, both involved in a bribery scandal linked to the awarding of public contracts.

The first degree sentence had sentenced Lerario to five years and four months in prison, while Leccese had received a four-year sentence. The Court of Appeal reduced the sentences to four years and four months respectively for Lerario and three years for Leccese. The defense of the two defendants had waived their grounds of appeal, accepting the reduction of the sentence without further objections.

Lerario was arrested in flagrante delicto in December 2021, when the police caught him receiving a bribe from Leccese. The investigation had revealed a complex system of corruption involving other public contracts, with Lerario accused of favoring certain companies in exchange for bribes.

In addition to this specific case, Lerario was sentenced in the first instance with an abbreviated trial for further episodes of corruption. The sentence, in this case, saw him accused together with the entrepreneur Antonio Illuzzi, who was sentenced to four years in prison. Another defendant, the former regional official Antonio Mercurio, was sent to trial in March and did not ask for alternative rites.

The operation that led to Lerario’s arrest highlighted a deep-rooted system of corruption that involved different levels of public administration and the private sector in Puglia. The reduction of sentences on appeal represents a further chapter in a story that has caused great uproar and indignation in the Apulian community.