Former Italian motorway boss gets 12-year jail term for Genoa bridge disaster
Giovanni Castellucci, ex-CEO of Autostrade per l'Italia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the 2018 collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, which killed 43 people.
Judge Paolo Lepri handed down the verdict in a Genoa court, sentencing former Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi) CEO Giovanni Castellucci to 12 years in prison for the collapse of the Morandi bridge in August 2018. The disaster occurred during a rainstorm at the height of the holiday season, sending cars and trucks plunging to the ground and killing 43 people.
Castellucci was one of 57 defendants in the trial and is already serving a six-year sentence for a separate road disaster in 2013. Another senior motorway official, Michele Donferri Mitelli, received an 11-year sentence. Former Aspi deputy head Paolo Berti was sentenced to five and a half years — seven years less than prosecutors had sought.
Prosecutors had requested a total of 400 years in prison for all 57 defendants for failing to maintain the viaduct, which was built by Riccardo Morandi in 1967. All defendants denied wrongdoing. While prosecutors argued that maintenance of the aging structure had been repeatedly delayed and warning signs ignored, defense lawyers blamed the disaster on a design flaw and the fact that a specific cable was encased in concrete.
Emmanuel Diaz, whose brother Henry died in the collapse, told Italian TV he was "very satisfied" with the verdict. Egle Possetti, whose sister and her family were all killed, said she found the 12-year term for Castellucci "acceptable." Castellucci was not in court to hear the verdict.
