Augsburg Local Court - Probation after mafia racketeering 33 years ago
33 years after a mafia protection racket in Bavaria, one of the perpetrators at the time has been convicted. On Thursday, the Augsburg District Court sentenced the Italian to a one-year suspended sentence for joint extortion. The 60-year-old defendant had fully admitted to the crime.
The case concerned allegations of extortion from 1989 and 1990, when an innkeeper from Landsberg am Lech in Upper Bavaria was pressured by several men, including the defendant, to pay monthly protection money of 1000 marks (the equivalent of 511 euros) for his restaurant. The landlord was threatened that otherwise "heads would roll" and that his child's ear would be cut off and sent to him by parcel. In the end, the restaurateur paid 4,000 marks.
Normally, the accusations would have been time-barred after 20 years. However, an arrest warrant was issued for the accused in 2006, which interrupted the statute of limitations. The man, who had been living in Italy until then, was only arrested in Germany last September on the basis of the warrant. He was then held in custody for several weeks.
He is now living with relatives in the Allgäu region and has a job there. According to his own statements, the man had already served seven to eight years in prison in Italy for various criminal offenses. In the proceedings, all sides emphasized the peculiarity that the extortion took place so long ago. "The crime is older than the public prosecutor making the plea," said the public prosecutor.
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- Despite living in Italy for several years, the perpetrator was arrested in Germany last September due to an old arrest warrant issued in 2006 related to the mafia protection racket in Bavaria, specifically in Landsberg am Lech.
- The verdict for the crimes committed in Augsburg's local court included a one-year suspended sentence for the Italian defendant, who had previously served time in prison in Italy for various criminal offenses.
- The extensive delay in bringing the individual to trial in Bavaria's criminal proceedings is an unusual circumstance, with the public prosecutor noting that the crime itself is older than the prosecutor making the case.
- The process leading to the verdict in Bavaria involved the initial allegations of extortion from 1989 and 1990, when a restaurant owner from Landsberg am Lech was pressured to pay monthly protection money to various mafia associates, including the defendant.
Source: www.stern.de
