Torre Annunziata – The procedural framework of the so-called "Sorrento System" is finally emerging. The Preliminary Investigations Judge of the Torre Annunziata Court, Maria Concetta Criscuolo, has ordered the immediate second trial of former mayor Massimo Coppola, currently under house arrest in Valmontone.
Starting April 17, 2026, Coppola will have to answer before Panel A of the Oplonti Court to the charges related to the main strand of the investigation conducted by the Guardia di Finanza: a monumental accusatory system, based on over twenty thousand pages of reports and documentary evidence that have uncovered an alleged mechanism of illicit management of public affairs.
The defendants and the accusations
Along with the former tricolour sash, two other key figures in the investigation will go on trial: architect Vincenzo Rescigno and, above all, Raffaele Guida, known in the news as "Lello the Psychic."
The latter, currently under house arrest in Lombardy, is considered by investigators to be a sort of eminence grise capable of guiding Coppola's administrative and political decisions through his reading of documents and esoteric suggestions.
The Torre Annunziata Public Prosecutor's Office, in the request signed by Public Prosecutor Giuliano Schioppi and endorsed by Chief Prosecutor Nunzio Fragliasso, charges the defendants, to varying degrees, with the crimes of corruption, bid-rigging, and embezzlement.
According to the Guardia di Finanza's reconstruction, confirmed by the preliminary investigation, from 2021 onwards the Municipality was managed according to a logic of division, with dozens of assignments, appointments and contracts rigged to favour restricted circles.
The crux of the two processes
Coppola's position is now becoming complex from a procedural standpoint. In November, the former mayor had already been indicted with an immediate trial for a parallel case: the Prisma cooperative and its monopoly on school lunches.
In this case, in which the prosecution is also based on the admissions of former staff member Francesco Di Maio and the cooperative's owner Michele De Angelis (who spoke of bribes agreed upon during dinners and lunches), the first hearing is scheduled for February 20, 2026.
While Di Maio, assisted by lawyer Alessandro Orsi, has chosen the abbreviated trial route to obtain a sentence reduction if convicted, Coppola's defense strategy—represented by a legal team composed of lawyers Gianni Pane, Bruno Larosa, Valerio Stravino, Giuseppe Stellato, and Claudio Sgambato—now appears to be at a crossroads.
The former mayor, who resigned on May 26, just days after being arrested for committing the crime, has not yet formally requested alternative proceedings. With the notification of this second order of immediate trial, the defense is likely seeking a consolidation of the proceedings, given the evidentiary and subjective connection between the two strands of the investigation that led to the dissolution of the municipal administration.
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Comments (1)
The article appears to be very complex and detailed, but there's a lot of information that's difficult to understand. I'm not a legal expert, but it seems to me that Coppola's case is very serious and carries many serious charges. Let's hope justice takes its course.