Reports: Ex-Rome mayor convicted in corruption case
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this May 21, 2013 file photo former Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno stands during a photo opportunity in Rome. Former Rome mayor has been convicted Monday Feb. 25, 2019 by a Rome court in a corruption and illegal financing case and sentenced to 6 years in prison. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Italian news reports say a former Rome mayor has been convicted of corruption and illegal financing and sentenced to six years in prison.
The ANSA news agency quoted Gianni Alemanno as saying Monday's "verdict is wrong. We'll surely appeal," and adding, "I'm innocent." The court also ordered him banned for life from holding public office.
Prosecutors had alleged that the far-right politician received nearly 300,000 euros ($345,000) in illegal financing through a foundation he ran.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alemanno, who is free pending an outcome of appeals, was acquitted of mafia association. His was one of several cases spawned by a sprawling investigation alleging that local mobsters had created a Mafia-like clique to win lucrative public contracts and other advantages in exchange for kickbacks to City Hall officials and administrators.