The trial returned after a passage to the Court of Cassation which had accepted some appeals, annulling with postponement for a new trial. Now the Court of Appeal of Messina has pronounced the sentence which excludes the crime of association and provides for three convictions and an acquittal for a trial proceeding from the “Principal” anti-drug operation, on a vast drug dealing ring between Messina and Torregrotta, dismantled by the Carabinieri and the District Anti-Mafia Directorate of Messina.
The trial was against Giuseppe Di Blasi, Filippo Iannelli, Concetta Maestrale and Antonino Papale. The Court of Appeal, presided over by Judge Carmelo Blatti, reclassified the facts alleged against Di Blasi, redefining the sentence to 1 year and 6 months and a fine of three thousand euros; for Filippo Iannelli he ordered 5 years and 4 months and a fine of 20 thousand euros in continuation with another sentence; for Antonino Papale the judges excluded recidivism and redetermined the sentence at 10 years and a fine of 26,200 euros. They were defended by the lawyers Salvatore and Gianmarco Silvestro, Alessandro Trovato and Rita Pandolfino. Finally, Concetta Maestrale was acquitted with the formula because the fact does not exist.
She was defended by lawyers Alessandro Billè and Alessandro Faramo. The Court also revoked the additional penalties of disqualification from public office for Di Blasi and Maestrale, one as a consequence of the size of the sentence and the other because she was acquitted.
The operation was the result of an investigation conducted by the soldiers of the Milazzo Company which revealed the operation of a group dedicated to the sale of cocaine, crack, hashish and marijuana in Torregrotta. The carabinieri discovered that the drugs were sold to buyers in the area or from Milazzo and other municipalities in the Mamertine area, from Messina and Barcelona.
The investigations were started by the police following reports from some citizens. It thus emerged that an intense drug dealing activity had been set up, through the division into roles. The operational base, as the investigating judge had reconstructed at the time in the order, was an apartment in Torregrotta. In most cases the drugs were delivered to the house, other times thrown from the windows.