Syracuse mayor candidate arrested for alleged vote swapping
Giuseppe Sorbello, former regional councilor and former mayor of Melilli, a town in Siracusa, is one of the 12 arrested in the context of the Asmundo operation by the carabinieri of Siracusa in an investigation coordinated by the magistrates of the third area of the District Prosecutor’s Office of Catania.
According to the accusation, Sorbello, during the 2022 local elections in Melilli, would have “accepted the promise of obtaining votes in exchange for money and the commitment to work to facilitate the release of the son of an affiliate.” The elections were won by the current mayor, Giuseppe Carta, a regional deputy of the Mpa with 75 percent of the vote.
For the 2022 mayoral elections in Melilli, Siracusa, candidate Pippo Sorbello, according to the prosecutors, would have made agreements with members of the Nardo clan. This is the thesis of the Anti-Mafia District Prosecutor’s Office in Catania, as also cited by the investigating judge Giuseppina Montuori who issued a custody order against twelve people.
The judge explains the commitment made by the mayoral candidate Sorbello in favor of the mafia association with sums of money that the candidate would have given to Giuseppe Montagno Bozzone, agreeing to facilitate the early release of his son Antonino, who was detained in Caltagirone prison, offering the services of his lawyers and with the support of an unidentified magistrate who could help him. According to the investigators, Vincenzo Formica, Antonello Costanzo Zammataro, and Antonino Montagno Bozzone were the organizers and contacts of the Nardo clan in Melilli. They have been charged with mafia association.
The arrested individuals are: Giada Aimone, 32 years old; Salvatore Arrabito, 34 years old; Antonello Costanzo Zammataro, 50 years old; Vincenzo Formica, 42 years old; Alfio Alberto Ira, 57 years old; Andrea Mendola, 29 years old; Giuseppe Nunzio Montagno Bozzone, 58 years old; Antonino Montagno Bozzone, 34 years old; Salvatore Padua, 58 years old; Antonino Puglia, 58 years old; Salvatore Rasizzi, 37 years old; Arturo Tomasello, 42 years old. Giuseppe Puglia, 29 years old, and Giuseppe Sorbello, 64 years old, are under house arrest.
Voto di scambio, arrestato a Siracusa Sorbello. L’accusa: una scarcerazione per ottenere la poltrona di sindaco
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