BARI – The Bari Prosecutor’s Office has requested an 8-year prison sentence for Giovanni Cassano, 52-year-old half-brother of the former footballer Antonio (with whom he never had relations), considered to be the head of a criminal association aimed at home burglaries , robberies and car thefts. The prosecutors also requested a sentence of 4 years and 8 months in prison for his son Gennaro (31 years old), Michele Sciacqua (48), Dario Novelli (39) and Giuseppe Armenise (48), considered participants in the association. The crimes of receiving stolen goods, forgery and violation of special surveillance were also contested for various reasons.
Cassano (who received a precautionary custody order last January, when he was already in prison for another reason) and his alleged group are accused of around 20 episodes of thefts, attempted thefts and robberies, crimes committed between Bari, the province and the north of Bari. On some occasions it was Cassano himself who disguised himself with a woman’s wig so as not to be discovered, in one case the gang managed to steal 300 thousand euros from a safe. But, among the most stolen objects, there were also valuable jewels and watches.
According to the prosecution, the gang members used to follow the victims to try to understand their habits, in order to understand how and when to act. The thefts generally occurred when the victims were away from home but, on one occasion, the inhabitants of a villa were blocked and threatened to allow the gang to complete the robbery. The investigations started in 2020 after some complaints in the Bari municipalities of Conversano and Castellana Grotte.
