Court in Sicily convicts 30 top mobsters

PALERMO, Sicily (AP) -- A court convicted and sentenced 30 top Sicilian mobsters to life imprisonment after a 10-year trial covering a total of 77 murders.
Some of those convicted Friday were already imprisoned, including the former "boss of bosses" Salvatore "Toto" Riina. Also sentenced was longtime fugitive Bernardo Provenzano, believed to now hold the top post in the Sicilian Mafia.
"Fortunately, the state, when it's well organized and when it pays attention to the Mafia, can do justice," prosecutor Gioacchino Natoli told the TG3 television news.
Among the victims in the killings, committed from 1981 to 1991, was Palermo entrepreneur Libero Grassi, who was slain for refusing to pay extortion money.
Grassi's bravery in challenging the Mafia won his case wide attention.
In addition to the 30 life sentences, four mobsters received sentences from 10 to 13 years. Twelve people were found not guilty.
The Corleone gang, which Riina ran until his arrest in 1993, was Italy's most notorious and violent, carrying out numerous bloody acts in the 1980s and early '90s.
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