Marcello Dell'Utri

'''Marcello Dell'Utri''' (born 11 September 1941) is a former Italian politician. He is best known for being a senior advisor to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, of whom he became a secretary in his early 20s and since the 1970s had worked for him at his many companies, including Publitalia '80 and Fininvest Rai. Dell'Utri's life and career have been marred by controversies and legal issues, including a conviction for external complicity in mafia association.

Formerly a member of the Italian Parliament from 1996 to 2013 and of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004, Dell'Utri was found guilty of tax fraud, false accounting, and complicity in conspiracy with the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Cosa Nostra; the conviction for the last charge was upheld on 9 May 2014 by the Supreme Court of Cassation, the highest judicial court in Italy, which sentenced Dell'Utri to seven years in prison. The conviction is final and cannot be further appealed; it also ruled that Dell'Utri was the mediator between Berlusconi and Cosa Nostra.

In 1974, Dell'Utri introduced Vittorio Mangano, already charged for Mafia crimes, to Berlusconi at the Villa San Martino owned by Berlusconi in Arcore, a small town near Milan. Dell'Utri and Berlusconi denied that they Mangano's links to the Mafia and claimed that he was employed as a gardener and stable man to deter kidnappers from targeting Berlusconi's children. Dell'Utri's Mafia conviction sentence stated that Mangano was employed precisely due to his Mafia past.

The Third Criminal Section of Palermo's Appellate Court declared Dell'Utri a fugitive in May 2014, when it was discovered he had fled the country ahead of the final court decision. After being detained in Lebanon, Dell'Utri was extradited to Italy on 13 June 2014. In Italy, he served 4 years of imprisonment and 1 year of house arrest. He was further sentenced in April 2018 to 12 years due to the State-Mafia Pact. This conviction was overturned on appeal in September 2021 for not having committed the facts. In July 2023, he inherited €30 million from Berlusconi's will. Provided by Wikipedia