Ruoppolo Teleacras - “Favoreggiatori Messina Denaro”: condanne in Appello

The Palermo Court of Appeals has convicted two alleged facilitators of Matteo Messina Denaro's fugitive status: Massimo Gentile and Cosimo Leone. Report by Angelo Ruoppolo. On January 17, 2025, the preliminary hearing judge, Marco Gaeta, at the conclusion of the summary trial, thus granting a one-third reduction in the sentence, sentenced Massimo Gentile to 10 years in prison and Cosimo Leone to 8 years, both charged with mafia association. Now, in the Court of Appeal, Gentile has been sentenced to 8 years and 6 months, and Cosimo Leone to 8 years. The two were arrested by the Carabinieri of the ROS special operations unit on March 27, 2024. Massimo Gentile, 53, originally from Erice, an architect who had been an employee of the Municipality of Limbiate in the province of Monza since 2019, allegedly lent his identity card to Matteo Messina Denaro from at least 2007 until 2017. Using Gentile's documents, the boss purchased a BMW motorcycle in 2007 and a Fiat 500 in 2014, both registered in Gentile's name. A photocopy of Massimo Gentile's identity card with Messina Denaro's photo was found at the Palermo dealership where the car was collected in November 2014. When he picked up the Fiat 500, Messina Denaro paid €1,000 in cash and €9,000 in a cashier's check issued by a Unicredit branch in Palermo, on Corso Calatafimi, where the fugitive went. The €9,000 check request bears a signature in the name of Massimo Gentile, but the actual handwriting is that of Messina Denaro. Cosimo Leone, 57, from Campobello di Mazara, a radiology technician at the "Ajello" hospital in Mazara del Vallo, allegedly favored Messina Denaro when he underwent his first CT scan at the same hospital in 2020, which revealed colon cancer. The CT scan was scheduled for November 20th, then moved up to the 17th, and finally performed on November 10th. The previous day, the 9th, Messina Denaro was admitted to the Surgery department. Cosimo Leone changed his work shift from afternoon to morning to be present for Messina Denaro's CT scan. On November 13th, three days after the CT scan, Messina Denaro underwent surgery. And the following day, the 14th, Andrea Bonafede, born in 1969, activated another phone number, which Cosimo Leone then gave to Messina Denaro in the hospital ward. On November 18th, Messina Denaro was discharged and returned to Campobello. In December, Cosimo Leone arranged to deliver the CT scan CD to him, so he could show it to the specialists.