Ponte Morandi: Twelve Years in Prison for Former Autostrade CEO Castellucci
First-instance verdict eight years after the Genoa disaster that left 43 people dead
Genoa – Nearly eight years after the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, the Genoa Regional Court has handed down its first verdict in the massive trial. Giovanni Castellucci, the former CEO of the highway operator Autostrade per l’Italia, was sentenced to twelve years in prison. The prosecution had sought a sentence of 18 years and six months. Of the 57 defendants, the judges found 32 guilty and imposed sentences totaling nearly 200 years.
On August 14, 2018, a section of the viaduct approximately 200 meters long collapsed during a violent storm, burying cars and trucks beneath it. Forty-three people lost their lives. The disaster shook the entire country and suddenly brought the dilapidated condition of many Italian infrastructure projects into the public consciousness.
Essentially, the indictment accused the managers and engineers at Autostrade and the inspection firm Spea of ignoring warning signs about the structure’s progressive deterioration for years in order to save on maintenance costs and secure profits. In addition to Castellucci, other former executives and officials responsible for structural monitoring were convicted; some defendants received lighter sentences, while others were acquitted.
For the victims’ families, the verdict remains a bittersweet moment. Spokespersons for the victims’ families expressed disappointment at what they considered to be an excessively lenient sentence and emphasized that a genuine admission of guilt was missing. A word of apology, they said, would have been appropriate years ago.
The defense rejected the allegations and called the verdict unjust. Castellucci himself announced that he would continue the fight; for him, the matter is not yet over. Since this is a first-instance ruling, the case will continue to occupy the Italian judicial system for years to come through appeals and cassation proceedings. Nothing has become final yet.
While the criminal trial is still ongoing, reconstruction has long since begun: Since 2020, the new „Genova San Giorgio“ viaduct has spanned the Polcevera Valley at the site of the collapsed bridge. For many Genoese, however, August 14 remains an open wound—and the verdict is only the first step on a long road toward legal accountability.
