Court of Appeal of Perugia

Rigopiano, bis appeal: three Abruzzo Region officials sentenced

The verdict after more than eight hours of council chamber. Ex-mayor of Farindola acquitted, regional and provincial managers acquitted and crimes prescribed

by Patrizia Maciocchi

11 February 2026

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Una veduta aerea di quel che rimane dell'hotel Rigopiano di Farindola che sette anni fa, il 18 gennaio 2017, fu travolto e distrutto da una valanga, alle pendici del versante pescarese del Gran Sasso, provocando la morte di 29 persone, 18 gennaio 2024. ANSA / Emanuele Valeri

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Three managers of the Abruzzo Region were sentenced to two years for the Rigopiano hotel disaster in Farindola. The three convictions, five acquittals and two prescriptions, after nearly eight hours of council chamber,the appeal bis for the Rigopiano tragedy in the Court of Appeal in Perugia. In the bis appeal for the 2017 tragedy, the former mayor of Farindola, Ilario Lacchetta was completely acquitted because 'the fact does not constitute a crime'. In recent days, he had communicated through his lawyers that he had waived the statute of limitations on the charges against him. The former regional managers Carlo Visca, Pierluigi Caputi and Vincenzo Antenucci were sentenced to two years. In addition to the former mayor of Farindola, the former municipal technician Colangeli and the three regional managers Giovani, Belmaggio and Primavera were also acquitted. Two prescriptions for the former provincial managers Di Blasio and D'Incecco. Tense moments at the end of the reading of the device. Former mayor Lacchetta's lawyer, Cristiana Valentini, burst into tears at the acquittal verdict. A reaction that did not please the victims' relatives, in particular Stefano Feniello's mother, who shouted: 'One cries for the death of a son, not for an acquittal'.

It was precisely on the prescription that a decisive part of the courtroom debate was played out: the public prosecutor had argued for the possibility of recalculating the time limits by applying those for intentional crimes, but the Court held that the extinction of some charges had been made.

Lack of prevention at several levels and mismanagement of the emergency. The Court of Appeal was called upon to rule on these charges in its fourth verdict. On the stand in the bis appeal trial, there were 10 defendants for the disaster that on 18 January 2017cost the lives of 29 people. The proceedings came to the Umbrian capital after the cancellation with reference ordered by the Court of Cassation on 3 December 2024, which had reopened the positions of six regional managers.

At first instance, in Pescara, five convictions had been handed down and 25 acquittals pronounced; on appeal, in L'Aquila, the number of convictions had risen to eight before the Supreme Court halted the case and handed down a six-month sentence for the former manager of the luxury resort and the head of the Prefecture's cabinet, without the aggravating circumstance. The bis appeal had instead been ordered for the former mayor of Farindola and other six executives of the Abruzzo Region at the time of the events, previously acquitted. There was also a new appeal for the two thenprovincial managers and the municipal technician

The prosecution's demands

The Attorney General of Perugia Paolo Barlucchi had called for the confirmation of the convictions in relation to offences that the Court of Cassation has ruled are time-barred. For five regional executives, the public prosecution had asked for a sentence of three years and five months for non-aggravated multiple manslaughter. On the other hand, the public prosecutor had pleaded for the acquittal of regional manager Sabatino Belmaggio. "For the first time, the inertia and responsibility of a public administration for a tragedy is recognised. In some respects a historic judgement. Of course, it is a partial recognition, but we must abide by the will of the judges'. With these words, Attorney General Barlucchi commented on the ruling.

The tragedy and rescue delays

The tragedy took place on 18 January 2017, at 4.41pm, after a series of earthquake tremors, a mass of snow and debris weighing around 120,000 tonnes detached from Mount Siella. Two minutes later, the avalanche hit the hotel Rigopiano, in Farindola. There were 40 people in the building, 28 guests, including four children, and 12 employees. Only 11 managed to save themselves. In fact, it took 20 hours for the rescue services to reach Rigopiano submerged in snow and the hotel - built at 1,200 metres in an area with a high risk of avalanches and connected to a road that was often closed in winter - buried by the huge avalanche.

Raising the alarm to 118, at 17.08 on 18 January, is Giampiero Parete, a chef on holiday who saved himself because he was in the car park, saying that the hotel had collapsed due to an avalanche. Two minutes later the Prefecture calls the hotel, but nobody answers. Then the director of the Rigopiano hotel, Bruno Di Tommaso, is contacted, who says he is in Pescara and knows nothing. Then, at 6.03 p.m. Parete called his owner Quintino Marcella, who contacted 112 and 113 several times. At 6.08 p.m. and 6.20 p.m. Marcella spoke to the Prefecture of Pescara on two occasions, but in both cases the official considered the call for help to be a false alarm. Only at 18.57 does a Civil Defence volunteer believe Marcella's words. The Alpine Rescue teams set off with snowshoes and skis, but reach the Rigopiano hotel at dawn on 19 January. Then came the column of rescuers, who opened a road completely constructed by snow with turbines. On that day, the bulletin of the national snow and avalanche forecasting service Meteomont indicated a danger level of 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 for that area.

The families of the victims

"The ruling tells us thatpublic administration ineptitude can kill. The Court of Appeal of Perugia conformed to the decision of the Court of Cassation, with a ruling that will be a milestone for Italia, because from today every public official knows that inertia in the face of the law does not exonerate him from responsibility for his duties". This was emphasised by the lawyer Romolo Reboa, legal counsel for some families of the victims of the hotel collapse. "I now hope," the lawyer concludes, "that all the councillors of the Abruzzo Region, majority and opposition, will converge in a rectification of the entity's budget to immediately compensate the families of the poor victims.

The President of the Abruzzo Region

The president of the Abruzzo Region Marco Marsilio also expressed sorrow for the relatives and respect for the institutions. "We welcome the ruling on the Rigopiano tragedy trial with respect and with the deep sense of responsibility that is due to the institutions. This decision cannot but arouse feelings of sorrow and sympathy towards the families of the victims and the survivors of that terrible night of 18 January 2017".

"No judicial decision," Marsilio states, "will ever be able to restore the lives lost, nor erase the deep wound that that tragedy left in the Abruzzo community and in the hearts of the entire country. As representatives of the institutions, we have a duty to accept and respect the judge's decisions with balance and civic sense. We now await the publication of the motivations to be able to express a more complete assessment of what has been decided. Finally, I renew my sincerest sympathy to the families of the victims and to all those who, in recent years, have sought justice and truth with courage and dignity'.