Maxi Trial - The Verdicts

The Verdicts

The trial ended on December 16, 1987, almost two years after it commenced. The verdicts were announced at 7:30PM and took an hour to read through.

Of the 474 defendants - both those present and those tried in absentia - 360 were convicted.

2,665 years of prison sentences were shared out between the guilty, not including the life sentences handed to the nineteen leading Mafia bosses and killers, including Michele Greco, Giuseppe Marchese and - in absentia - Salvatore Riina, Giuseppe Lucchese and Bernardo Provenzano.

A number of those convicted in absentia were, unknown to the judiciary, deceased by the time of the verdicts. They included Filippo Marchese, Rosario Riccobono and Giuseppe Greco. Additionally Mario Prestifilippo was also on trial in absentia, but he was found shot dead in the streets while proceedings were still taking place.

A total of 114 defendants were acquitted, including Luciano Leggio, who had been charged with helping to run the Corleonesi Mafia Family from behind bars and for ordering the murder of Cesare Terranova, who had prosecuted him back in 1970. The jury decided there was not enough evidence. It made little difference to Leggio's position though; he was already serving a sentence of life imprisonment for a prior conviction for murder and remained behind bars until his death six years later.

The significant number of acquittals did manage to silence some of the critics who had believed that it was a show trial whereby nearly everyone would be convicted.

Of those who were acquitted, eighteen were later murdered by the Mafia, including one, Antoninio Ciulla, who was shot dead within an hour of being released as he drove home for a celebratory party.