Overview

• The Cassation’s Fourth Criminal Section confirmed convictions for 13 of the 14 defendants accused of managing drug supply in Bologna’s Pilastro neighborhood in 2019–20.
• Judges annulled and remanded charges for an Albanian defendant over his alleged role as a trafficking association promoter and ordered new appeals for three others.
• The investigation was launched by prosecutors Roberto Ceroni and Marco Imperato after linking the network to the August 2019 murder of Nicola Rinaldi in via Frati.
• In the first-instance trial, GUP Sandro Pecorella convicted 21 suspects with sentences up to 14 years, and several penalties were later reduced on appeal.
• Bologna’s Prosecutor’s Office has formally asked to dismiss the aggravated defamation case against Matteo Salvini stemming from his January 2020 doorbell questioning of the family.