Naples - A new twist shakes the courts in the long and bloody chapter of the Scampia Feud. Raffaele Amato, the famous "Spanish" leader of the Scissionisti, has managed to avoid life in prison.
Despite the serious accusation of being the instigator of three murders and a double attempted murder, the boss of the Amato-Pagano clan received a thirty-year prison sentence.
The sentence was handed down yesterday morning by preliminary investigations judge Bardi at the conclusion of the summary trial. A key consideration for the boss's defense, represented by attorneys Domenico Dello Iacono and Emilio Martino, was the granting of mitigating circumstances that outweighed the aggravating circumstances, saving Amato from a life sentence.
Co-defendant Oreste Sparano suffered a similar fate, but a shorter sentence. Defended by criminal lawyers Luigi Senese and Gandolfo Geraci, he received a 20-year prison sentence, answering only for the murder of Carmine Fusco.
The genesis of the investigation and the strategy of terror
The proceedings stem from a precautionary custody order served in August 2024, which shed light on a series of crimes committed between the first and second Scampia feuds, particularly between September 2007 and February 2008. A period of lead that bloodied Secondigliano (Perrone area) and Arzano.
The charges against Amato reconstructed a ruthless criminal scenario: the order to kill Salvatore Ferrara, the boss of the rival Di Lauro clan (an ambush that also injured Ugo De Lucia and Antonio Caldieri), and the executions of Luigi Magnetti and Carmine Fusco. These crimes were aggravated by the mafia's methods and the aim of facilitating the dominance of the "Spagnoli."
The judicial process also had to overcome complex international bureaucratic obstacles: Amato, already arrested in 2009, had been handed over from Spain to Italy pursuant to a European Arrest Warrant which, at the time, did not yet cover these specific bloody events, requiring a subsequent extension of the extradition.
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The background: death in the family
The investigative breakthrough came thanks to the statements of collaborators with justice, which allowed the "cold cases" to be reopened. The details provided by Carmine Cerrato, the group's former hitman, were chilling, revealing the clan's internal dynamics. In a December 2010 statement, Cerrato recounted how Luigi Magnetti's death had, incredibly, been requested by his own uncle.
"Totore 'o marenaro," uncle of Luigi Magnetti "'o mocillo," came," the informer told the magistrates. "He went off with the bosses Cesare Pagano and Raffaele Amato. I heard Raffaele Amato say that Totore wanted them to decide to kill his nephew Luigi, who didn't respect his authority in managing Vanella Grassi."
A request that the Scissionisti leadership transformed into a macabre chessboard strategy: "Amato said they would have Magnetti kill one of De Lucia's nephews and then, as requested by 'o marenaro, they would have Magnetti himself killed." A cynical plan, typical of the entrepreneurial Camorra that ignores blood ties in order to maintain the balance of power.
The operative part of the sentence
Below are the sentences issued by the GIP at the end of the abbreviated trial:
Raphael AmatoSentenced to 30 years in prison (with mitigating circumstances recognized). He was charged with three murders (Ferrara, Magnetti, Fusco), two attempted murders, and illegal possession of weapons.
Orestes SparanoSentenced to 20 years in prison. He was charged with participating in the murder of Carmine Fusco.
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