Italy appeals court upholds conviction of 2 Americans in death of policeman

4/7/2024 13:10

        An Italian appeals court on Wednesday upheld the convictions of two American men in the killing of an Italian plainclothes police officer during a botched sting operation five years ago but significantly reduced their sentences.
        
        The new verdict, ordered after Italy's highest court threw out the original convictions, drew acceptance from the men's families and disappointment from the officer's widow.
        
        Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth had been found guilty in the July 2019 killing of Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega, and after the first trial, were both sentenced to life in prison, Italy's harshest penalty.
        
        Those sentences were reduced on appeal before Italy's highest Cassation Court last year ordered a new trial altogether. On Wednesday, the appeals court convicted Finnegan and sentenced him to 15 years and 2 months in prison. Natale-Hjorth was sentenced to 11 years and four months, along with a 800 euro ($863) fine.