Italian mob member gets Swiss prison sentence

The courthouse in Bellinzona, Switzerland, is about an hour’s drive from the Italian border. © Ti-Press

An Italian man living near the Swiss capital has been handed a prison sentence for his membership in and support of the ’Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia.

Switzerland’s Federal Criminal CourtExternal link sentenced the 61-year-old to three years and eight months in prison.

+ In 2016, 15 mafia suspects were arrested in Switzerland

Known as “Cosimo the Swiss”, the man played an important role in Giussano’s cell in Lombardy and had connections to clans in Piedmont and Calabria. For the mafia he bought weapons in Switzerland and brought them to Italy.

The court found that the man was involved in the activities of the local sections of the ’Ndrangheta in Giussano and Seregno near Milan from 2003 to 2011.

The court also convicted him of buying a stolen revolver and using weapons to guard a hemp field in canton Bern. The weapons, which were found in August 2015 during a raid of the man’s home, were confiscated. He also must pay court costs of CHF30,000 ($30,023).

Initially, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland had demanded four years of jail time. The Federal Criminal Court acquitted the man of charges of false accusation and misleading the administration of justice.

Details of the court sentence (case SK.2018.3 from November 27) are available here in GermanExternal link.