Casalesi in Veneto: 24 defendants sentenced to final sentences, including 30 years for Luciano Donadio.

The convictions have become final for 24 defendants in the trial against the Casalesi clan-linked organization, rooted in Eraclea and eastern Veneto. Following the Supreme Court's ruling, the Venice Prosecutor General's Office issued the resulting execution warrants, two of which have been suspended, as part of a joint operation by the police, Carabinieri, and Guardia di Finanza.

The operation involved the provinces of Venice, Caserta, Cosenza, Naples, Potenza, Rovigo, and Padua, with the deployment of over one hundred officers from the three police forces.

The Fifth Section of the Supreme Court upheld the mafia structure recognized by the Venice Court of Appeal in June 2025. Among the main sentences, the sentence for Luciano Donadio, identified as the leader of the organization, remains set at 30 years. Raffaele Buonanno, considered his right-hand man, had his sentence re-set at 29 years and six months.

The sentences and the three positions still to be judged

At this stage, the proceedings involve 27 defendants who had chosen the ordinary procedure. For 24 of them, the Supreme Court's decision allowed the issuance of execution orders, with sentences ranging from three to thirty years of imprisonment.

The convictions concern, to varying degrees, mafia-type association, usury, extortion, money laundering, fraudulent transfer of assets, issuing invoices for non-existent transactions, and other serious crimes aggravated by mafia methods or mafia facilitation.

Three other defendants were retried before a different section of the Venice Court of Appeal: in two cases, for a reassessment of the evidentiary framework, and in the third, for a limited sanction.

The two cases for which a new trial on the merits has been decided are those of bank employees Denis Poles and Marco Donati, accused of external involvement in mafia association. Therefore, they cannot be considered definitively convicted.

Donadio not found, other prison entries

Along with the execution of the sentences, there is another element still to be clarified at the operational level. Luciano Donadio was not found by the police and was still missing as of yesterday evening.
While Raffaele Buonanno turned himself in in Melfi and his brother Antonio, sentenced to 19 years and three months, presented himself to the police in Frosinone.

Antonio Pacifico, sentenced to 17 years and 11 months, was taken to the Padua prison. Also reported were Giuseppe Puoti, sentenced to 13 years and six months, and Adriano Donadio, Luciano's son, sentenced to seven years and six months.

Construction and catering in the control system

At the center of the investigation coordinated by the Venice District Anti-Mafia Directorate was an organization capable of infiltrating the business fabric of eastern Veneto, with a particularly deep-rooted presence in the Eraclea area.

According to the investigative reconstruction, the group aimed to acquire, directly or through intermediaries, the management and control of businesses, especially in the construction and restaurant sectors. To achieve these goals, they also resorted to threats and violence.

The system also included the imposition of a quota on the proceeds of criminal gangs active in neighboring territories, engaged in drug trafficking or prostitution. Part of the proceeds were used to financially support the Casalesi clan.

The investigations also documented infiltration of local political and administrative dynamics. This general picture must be distinguished from individual judicial responsibilities: in June 2025, the acquittal of the former mayor of Eraclea, Mirco Mestre, was confirmed.

The investigation started from the counterfeit banknotes

The investigation began in 2008. In the province of Udine, the then Tax Police Unit of the Trieste Finance Police arrested two people of Neapolitan origin for possession of counterfeit banknotes.

One of the two expressed his intention to provide detailed information on a criminal organization operating in eastern Veneto. This step led to further investigations, which later merged into the long and complex investigations delegated to the Venice DDA.
The investigation underlying the trial was coordinated by public prosecutors Roberto Terzo and Federica Baccaglini.

Over one hundred operators in the operation

The operations were conducted by the Venice Flying Squad, the Investigative Unit of the Provincial Command of the Carabinieri of Venice, and the GICO of the Guardia di Finanza of Trieste.

The investigative section of the Venice SCO, the Mobile Squads of Caserta and Potenza, the provincial Carabinieri commands of Naples, Caserta and Cosenza and those of the Guardia di Finanza of Caserta and Venice operated in support.
This intervention represents the enforcement phase of the final convictions, while the proceedings for the three cases affected by the referral will continue before the Court of Appeal.