group of people who helped Cosa Nostra superboss Bernardo Provenzano remain a fugitive for over 40 years have received a combined total of 300 years in prison.
The lion's share of the 57 on trial were accused of helping the Provenzano over the last decade or so, after he become the undisputed head of Cosa Nostra following the arrest 13 years ago of Salvatore (Toto') Riina.
Among those convicted was Nicola Mandela', who organised Provenzano's prostate operation in a private clinic. He received a 13-year sentence.
The stiffest sentences, 18 years, were handed down against Benedetto Spera, capo of the Belmonte Mafia gang, and Onofrio Morreale, while Giuseppe Di Fiore received 14 years and Giuseppe Pinello 12 years eight months.
The court also ordered that two businesses owned by the mafia be definitively confiscate, Consud Tir and Sicula Marmi.
The defendants were arrested in a major operation last January, when police also seized 900,000 euros in possession of Di Fiore.
Provenzano, a peasant who rose up the Mafia's ranks through his ability as a killer, was arrested last April 11 at a sheepfarm outside his home town of Corleone after 43 years on the run.
Once in sole command of Cosa Nostra, the 73-year-old mobster reined in the offensive unleashed by Riina - which included the murder of Italy's top two anti-Mafia judges and bombings in Rome and Milan - and took the organisation back underground to forge new political ties, claim public contracts and run rackets in relative peace.
