After 27 years of imprisonment, between the United States and Italy, Chico Forti will be able to leave the Veronese prison of Montorio, where he is serving a life sentence. Forti, 66, was granted permission by the Supervisory Court of Venice to work outside prison, under Article 21 of the prison regulations, to attend a vocational training course for pizza makers, volunteer with the elderly and teach windsurfing to the disabled. His lawyers’ application was accepted after a previous request for conditional release was rejected three months ago. Forti, from Trentino, born in 1959, a former windsurfing champion, will thus be able to cultivate one of his passions, teaching this sport to the disabled in a centre in Malcesine (Verona), on Lake Garda.
The arrest in Miami
The court case in which he was involved is long and complex: after a big win on the quiz show Telemike, he had moved to Miami, Florida, in 1992, where he worked as a television producer. In 1998, he was arrested for the murder of Dale Pike, son of Anthony Pike, with whom he was negotiating the purchase of a hotel in Ibiza; the young man was found dead on a beach. Sentenced in 2000 to life imprisonment without parole, he has always maintained his innocence, believing himself to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
The return to Italy and Meloni’s welcome
Prime Minister Meloni’s welcome in Italy had been accompanied by political controversy, as had the interview conducted by Bruno Vespa a few days after her transfer to Verona prison. Then, in July last year, the Verona Public Prosecutor’s Office had opened a file on Forti following the statements of a detainee, convicted for crimes linked to the ‘ndrangheta, who had reported having overheard a conversation between a detainee and Forti in which the latter had allegedly asked – in exchange for favours – the Calabrian criminality to ‘silence’ Marco Travaglio, Selvaggia Lucarelli and Aldo Di Giacomo, secretary general of the Penitentiary Police union. Prosecutor Raffaele Tito had then opened a ‘model 45’ file, with no suspects or offences, delegating the investigation to the Carabinieri, which ended with a request for archiving. The news was confirmed by the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, replying to a parliamentary question by Avs MP Devis Dori.