Mafia at Arenella, boss Gaetano Scotto and the brother of agent Schifani's widow sentenced

The trial arises from the "White Shark" investigation of 2020, in which it emerged that the newly freed mafioso would have regained control of the clan and also received citizenship income. The procession for the patron saint of the village would also have stopped for him. 20 years were imposed, 12 on his brother Francesco Paolo and on the other defendant, Giuseppe Costa

Not even the patron saint of Arenella, Sant'Antonio, could pass if he, the boss Gaetano Scotto, had not been present. And even the "launch" would have been placed on a boat on which Scotto and his girlfriend would have boarded. This was one of the background to the DIA "White Shark" operation which in 2020 led to the new arrest of the mafioso. Now the boss has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, while one of his brothers Francesco Paolo, and Giuseppe Costa, the brother of Rosaria Costa , the widow of Giovanni Falcone's escort agent, Vito Schifani (who disowned him after the 'arrest), each was inflicted 12 years' imprisonment.

The sentence was issued by the fifth section of the court, chaired by Donatella Puleo, who accepted the requests of the deputy prosecutors Giorgia Righi and Amelia Luise (now at the European Public Prosecutor's Office). According to the prosecution, Gaetano Scotto, who is also on trial for the murder of agent Nino Agostino and his wife Ida Castellucci in 1989, after being freed in 2016, took back command of the Arenella clan. And he would not have liked the management carried out in his absence at all because his assets would have been squandered.

From the investigations it emerged that everyone would turn to Scotto to solve their problems, even the most trivial. There was a queue to talk to Scotto. The "stigghiolaro" who wanted to set up the stall, the seller of contraband cigarettes, the "drink seller", the concrete supplier, the detergent shopkeeper: many turned to the boss for permission to start an illegal business or to intercede with someone else. And as he himself said to his girlfriend: "Everyone is happy because I'm right." It had also emerged that Scotto received citizenship income and also that, in order not to attract attention, he would have refused prestigious positions within Cosa Nostra: "They asked me to be the head of the mandamento - he said - but they are crazy! I have to thank God for coming out, there's no talking about it at all"