The Palmi court (president Barbara Borelli, alongside, Marco Iazzetti and Ciriaco Greco) ordered ten convictions and eight acquittals in the trial resulting from the ‘Hybris’ operation, coordinated by the anti-mafia district prosecutor’s office of Reggio Calabria, carried out on 9 March 2023 by the investigative unit of the Carabinieri group of Gioia Tauro.
The convictions and acquittals in the Hybris trial
The following were sentenced: Antonio Zito (20 years), Rocco Delfino (19 years and six months), Cosimo Romagnosi (18 years), Vittorio Minniti (13 years and six months), Rosario Mazzaferro (12 years), Antonio Franza (8 years), Francesco Benito Palaia (6 years and four months), Maria Martino, wife of the boss Giuseppe ‘Pinò Piromalli (5 years), Antonio Ieraci (2 years and four months), Andrea Alampi (2 years and eight months). However, the following were acquitted: Antonio Albanese, Salvatore Carbone, Giuseppe Coronese, Carmela De Gori, Salvatore Delfino, Ernesto Madafferi, Vincenzo Simone Minniti and Gaetano Verga.
The alleged crimes and the investigative framework
The investigations, through which the functional structures of the Piromalli gang were hypothesized, had led to various charges being filed against the crimes of mafia-type association, external complicity in mafia-type association, carrying and possession of common weapons and weapons of war, extortion, damage followed by fire, disturbed freedom of auctions and international importation of narcotic substances.
The defense team
A large group of defenders: lawyers Gianfranco Giunta, Domenico Putrino, Michele Dragone, Francesco Pesare, Francesco Cardone, Mirna Raschi, Guido Contestabile, Salvatore Staiano and Luca Cianferoni.