Former Autostrade CEO Sentenced to 12 Years over Genoa Morandi Bridge Collapse

Giovanni Castellucci, former chief executive of Autostrade per l’Italia (Aspi), has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in the Genoa trial over the Morandi bridge collapse on 14 August 2018, which killed 43 people, court officials announced. The verdict, read by Judge Paolo Lepri, also handed 11 years to Michele Donferri Mitelli and shorter terms to other executives and engineers.

The collapse occurred during a summer rainstorm, sending cars and lorries plummeting from the motorway viaduct designed by Riccardo Morandi in 1967. Prosecutors had sought substantially longer sentences: they asked for a combined 400 years across 57 defendants on charges including manslaughter and failing to maintain the structure.

Castellucci, who is already serving a six-year sentence related to a 2013 road disaster, did not attend the hearing. Paolo Berti, the former deputy at the motorway operator, received five-and-a-half years, while several officials were given terms just under two years and 25 defendants were acquitted or exempted due to statute of limitations.

Among sentenced individuals were engineers from maintenance firm Spea and former officials from the transport ministry and Atlantia, Aspi’s parent company. Spea’s ex-CEO Antonino Galatà received five-and-a-half years and Mauro Coletta, once head of the ministry’s motorway directorate, was given five years.

Families of victims responded to the verdicts with mixed emotions: some described the sentences as acceptable or a step toward accountability, while others called company apologies insincere. Arrigo Giana, current head of Aspi, issued the firm’s first public apology on the eve of the trial, acknowledging that some decisions left “indelible scars.”

Liberal News Analysis: What Does This Development Mean?

The sentencing marks a legal reckoning for Italy’s motorway governance and maintenance culture. For investors and infrastructure managers, the case underscores how prolonged deferred maintenance and contested design liabilities can translate into severe corporate and criminal exposure. Public trust in private concessionaires is likely to remain fragile, prompting closer regulatory scrutiny and potential contractual and financial repercussions for companies operating critical transport assets.

On a societal level, the ruling may strengthen calls for clearer accountability frameworks and more transparent inspection regimes for ageing infrastructure across Europe. Legal outcomes here could influence policy debates about privatization, concession oversight and the allocation of civil versus criminal responsibility in infrastructure failures.

Hızlı Bakış: Bilmeniz Gerekenler

• Giovanni Castellucci sentenced to 12 years for the 14 August 2018 Morandi bridge collapse that killed 43 people.
• Michele Donferri Mitelli received 11 years; Paolo Berti got five-and-a-half years; 25 defendants acquitted or time-barred.
• Prosecutors had sought a combined 400 years across 57 defendants on charges including manslaughter and failure to maintain the viaduct.
• Some victims’ relatives called the sentences a form of justice while others criticized corporate apologies as insincere.
• The old viaduct was demolished in 2019 and replaced by the San Giorgio bridge, designed by Renzo Piano and inaugurated in 2020.