Marcello Dell'Utri

Who is Marcello Dell'Utri?

Marcello Dell'Utri is a convicted mafia criminal and a former Italian politician senior advisor to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Formerly Senator in the Italian Senate for The People of Freedom political movement, he was also member of the Italian Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe and of the Italian Parliamentary Delegation to the Western European Union. He was appointed artistic director of the now closed Teatro Lirico in Milan by the then mayor Letizia Moratti his appointment has been strongly criticized by art critic and then Head of Culture Department of the Municipality of Milan Vittorio Sgarbi .

Dell'Utri has been found guilty of tax fraud, false accounting, and complicity in conspiracy with the Sicilian Mafia; the conviction for the last charge has been upheld on 9 May 2014 by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation which sentenced Dell'utri to seven years in prison. The conviction is final and cannot be further appealed. Dell'Utri is currently being detained in Lebanon. The third criminal section of Palermo's Appellate Court declared Dell'Utri a fugitive last month when it was discovered he had fled the country ahead of the final court decision.