Sister of Mafia boss sentenced to long prison term
Matteo Messina Denaro was one of the most wanted Mafiosos in Italy. The Sicilian godfather boasts about personally killing people and orchestrating lethal bomb attacks. After his girlfriend was sentenced to a long prison term, his sister is now also behind bars.
According to Italian media reports, the sister of the late Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The 69-year-old Rosalia Messina Denaro was convicted for membership in a criminal organization.
The wife of imprisoned Mafia boss Filippo Guttadauro once inadvertently led the police to her brother's whereabouts: The officers found a note about the health condition of the godfather of the Sicilian Mafia hidden in a hollowed-out part of her furniture.
The arrested Rosalia Messina Denaro was the only family member who knew about her brother's serious health condition. According to investigators, she was not only his confidant, but also played an important role in the Mafia business. She managed her brother's finances and facilitated the distribution of the so-called "pizzini" - small paper notes that allowed the Mafia boss to communicate with his henchmen.
Messina Denaro was one of the most notorious patrons of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. "With the people I personally killed, I could fill a cemetery," is a famous quote from the Mafioso. He was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment six times, among other things, for the murder of Anti-Mafia Judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
Murders, Bomb Attacks, and Kidnappings
He was also charged in the verdicts for several bomb attacks in Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993, which resulted in ten deaths and over a hundred injuries. The Mafia boss went underground in 1993 and spent the following 30 years on the run.
Messina Denaro has been leading his criminal endeavors from the underground since then. His illness led to his capture: He was arrested in mid-January 2023 when he visited a private clinic in Palermo under a false name.
A former lover of the deceased Mafia boss was sentenced to 13 years and 8 months in prison in January for aiding and abetting a criminal organization. The Italian woman was found guilty by a court in Palermo for providing shelter to the criminal during his decades-long escape. She supplied him with all the things he needed to live and regularly invited him for meals. Her husband was acquitted with six years and eight months for accessory and obstruction of justice.
- The International Criminal Court has expressed interest in investigating the Italian Mafia, given the numerous international connections and transnational crimes associated with organized crime syndicates like Cosa Nostra, of which Matteo Messina Denaro is a prominent figure.
- The arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro in Palermo in 2023 marked a significant milestone in the fight against International Criminality, as his Network has been responsible for numerous bomb attacks, murders, and illegal activities not only in Italy but also across European borders.
- Following his arrest, several high-profile trials were held in Italy, resulting in several convictions and International Criminal Judgments against members of the Italian Mafia, including Messina Denaro and his associates, for their involvement in various criminal activities, from drug trafficking to extortion.
