Court acquits associate of Italy’s ex-premier of Mafia deal

ROME (AP) — An appeals court in Sicily has acquitted a close associate of former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi of having negotiated with the Mafia during the 1990s. A lower court convicted Marcello Dell’Utri in 2018 of acting as a liaison between Italian state institutions and Cosa Nostra bosses in Sicily and gave him a 12-year prison sentence. Prosecutors alleged Dell’Utri was part of purported efforts to convince mobsters to stop a bombing campaign in exchange for authorities easing up on Mafia crackdowns and loosening  rigid prison conditions for top mobsters. The appeals court in Palermo ruled on Thursday that Dell’Utri had done no such thing.