Former Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, the alleged ringleader of Italy's massive 2006 Calciopoli matchfixing scandal, on Thursday received a much lighter than expected penalty in a separate case.
Moggi, 71, got an 18-month prison term for attempting to manipulate the Italian soccer transfer market by intimidating players.
Prosecutors had sought a six-year term for the ex-executive in the trial, which was related to the activities of a player management agency run by his son Alessandro.
The court found that Moggi was only guilty of intimidating two players and not criminal conspiracy, which would have brought a much heavier sentence.
Despite the shorter term, Moggi said: ''I am bitter, I did nothing (wrong)''.
Alessandro Moggi, 33, was given 14 months in jail in connection with the activities of the GEA World agency.
Prosecutors had sought a five-year jail term for him.
In the case of Alessandro Moggi also, the court found no evidence of conspiring to form a criminal organisation.
Alessandro Moggi claimed the verdict was a vindication of GEA World and said all the defendants should have been cleared.
The Moggis will not serve any time in jail because the offences were committed before May 2006 and are therefore covered by a controversial amnesty voted that year.
The court acquitted the other four defendants in the case, including agency employee Davide Lippi, the son of Italy's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi.
The prosecution wanted a 16-month penalty for Davide Lippi, 29.
The other three acquitted were GEA World's former CEO, Francesco Zavaglia, who faced a three-and-a-half year jail request, and two staffers for whom prosecutors requested terms of 26 months and eight months.
Moggi, his son and Zavaglia were accused of gaining an illegal hold over the Serie A transfer market by intimidating players into dropping their existing agents and signing up with GEA.
The three others, including Lippi, were accused of aiding and abetting.
All six denied wrongdoing.
Moggi, who was banned by the Italian Soccer Federation for five years in the Calciopoli scandal that rocked Italian soccer just before the 2006 World Cup, also pledged that he would never return to the soccer world.
In a separate criminal case stemming from Calciopoli, Moggi and 24 others are set to stand trial in Naples later this month.
They deny the charges in that case.
