New convictions in Cassation for the sons of lifer mafia boss Vincenzo Virga in Trapani

Last Updated: March 27, 2024

The article reports that the Court of Cassation, Sixth Criminal Section, confirmed the appeal judgment issued in September 2022 by the first criminal section of the Court of Appeal of Palermo. The case was related to the branch of the anti-mafia operation “Scrigno,” concerning the defendants judged with the abbreviated procedure. The appeal judgment increased the sentences compared to the first instance. The Court of Cassation upheld the decisions of Judge Adriana Piras, who presided over the court in Palermo, rejecting the appeals of the defendants Franco and Pietro Virga and Nino D’Aguanno. The Virga brothers were sentenced to 16 years and 8 months, 19 years and 4 months, and 3 years and 4 months, respectively. The appeals of other defendants were also declared inadmissible. The “Scrigno” operation, which led to the arrest of several members of the Trapani Mafia clan, revealed deep ties between the mafia and politics in the area, causing a political upheaval. The investigation saw the arrest of figures like the Virga brothers, former councilor Franco Orlando, and Nino Buzzitta. The Virga brothers took over the Trapani Mafia after their father’s arrest.