The Palermo carabinieri arrested Salvatore Ferrigno
, 62, a candidate for the Sicilian regional parliament in the upcoming elections in Raffaele Lombardo's Popolari Autonomisti, a list of the coalition that supports the former president of the Senate Renato Schifani in the race for the presidency of the Sicilian Region.
The aspiring deputy is accused of political-mafia electoral exchange.
Together with him, the boss Giuseppe Lo Duca and Piera Lo Iacono , who allegedly acted as intermediary between the politician and the mafia
, ended up in prison .
The investigation was coordinated by the deputy prosecutor Paolo Guido.
According to the investigators, Ferrigno promised favors and money to the exponent of Cosa Nostra in exchange for votes
.
In support of the accusation there are several environmental interceptions, some of a few days ago.
The investigation, coordinated by the DDA, stems from an investigation by the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit, led by Lieutenant Colonel Salvatore Di Gesare, on the mafia clans in the province of Palermo.
At the last administrative office in June, the candidates for the Palermo City Council Francesco Lombardo and Pietro Polizzi, both of the center-right, ended up in jail, again on charges of political electoral exchange of the Mafia
.
The Prosecutor also objected to having made a pact with the mafia that provided support for the clans in exchange for electoral support.
Who is Salvatore Ferrigno
He is 62 years old and a militant past in Forza Italia Salvatore Ferrigno.
Candidate of the Popolari and Autonomisti all'Ars in the center-right coalition that supports the aspiring governor Renato Schifani, he is originally from Carini, center of Palermo, and was a blue parliamentarian in 2006, elected in the foreign constituency for North and Central America.
"His political convictions and absolute dedication to Italy in a vision of civil progress and loyalty to the United States motivated his descent into the field - said the Giornale degli Italiani all'Estero - capable, prepared and generous person. , the Italians of America like him for his frank speaking and without dialectical virtuosity and the ambiguities that have distinguished other characters who have trod the same scenarios leaving behind some perplexity and a lot of indifference ".
One of the founders of the Azzurri association in the world of California, he lived for many years in Philadelphia and worked as an insurance broker
.
During the legislature in which he was a national deputy he was a member of the Defense commission.
In 2008 the then president of the Region Raffaele Lombardo appointed him as consultant for relations between the Region and Sicilians abroad
.
Slogan of his campaign for the regional: "change is now. Come on, let's begin".