Ex-Aspi chief jailed for 12 years over Genoa bridge collapse
A Genoa court has handed lengthy prison sentences to former executives of Italy's motorway operator, establishing a stark precedent for corporate liability in European infrastructure management.
A judge in Genoa has sentenced Giovanni Castellucci, the former chief executive of Autostrade per l'Italia (Aspi), to 12 years in prison for his role in the 2018 Morandi bridge collapse that killed 43 people. Michele Donferri Mitelli, another top motorway official, received an 11-year term. The former number two at the operator, Paolo Berti, was handed five-and-a-half years.
The convictions cap a sprawling trial of 57 defendants, including engineers from maintenance firm Spea and officials from the transport ministry and Aspi's parent company, Atlantia. Prosecutors had requested a combined 400 years in prison, arguing that the defendants failed to maintain the 1967 viaduct and repeatedly ignored warning signs before it came down in a rain storm. Defence lawyers had shifted the blame to a structural design flaw and a specific cable encased in concrete.
For Europe's infrastructure investors and private concession operators, the ruling sends an unambiguous message about the severe personal risks of neglecting ageing assets. The disaster permanently altered Italy's approach to motorway privatisation, ultimately forcing Atlantia to divest its controlling stake in Aspi. The sight of a former chief executive receiving a double-digit prison sentence for infrastructure failure will likely force a strict recalibration of maintenance budgets, liability insurance, and risk assessments across the continent's transport sector.
The trial also implicated the state's oversight mechanisms. Mauro Coletta, the former top official in charge of the transport ministry's motorway directorate, received a five-year sentence. Antonino Galatà, the former chief executive of Spea, was also given five-and-a-half years. All defendants had denied doing anything wrong throughout the proceedings.
Castellucci, who was not in court to hear Judge Paolo Lepri read the verdicts, is already serving a six-year sentence for a separate 2013 road disaster. Relatives of the victims expressed measured approval. "I am very satisfied," Emmanuel Diaz, whose brother Henry died in the collapse, told Italian TV. Egle Possetti, who lost her sister and her entire family, called the 12-year term "acceptable".
On the eve of the verdict, Aspi's current chief executive, Arrigo Giana, issued the company's first public apology for the tragedy. "The actions and decisions of some people left indelible scars," Giana said.
