The model agency owner who was sentenced to four and a half years in early 2008 in connection with the death of Marco Pantani has had his appeal against the prison sentence rejected by the Court of Appeal of Bologna.
The 33 year old Italian Fabio Carlino was originally found guilty of helping arrange the delivery of the final, fatal batch of drugs to the rider, who won the Tour de France in 1998. On January 15th 2008 he was handed that four and a half year prison sentence, was given an additional disqualification from public offices for five years and ordered to pay €150,000 euro to each of Pantani’s parents, Ferdinand and Tonina.
Carlino sought to overturn that, based on alleged procedural errors. He also challenged the content of the judgement.
When the original sentences were passed down, two others were jailed for supplying him with cocaine. Drug dealer Fabio Miradossa was sentenced to 4 years and 10 months while his accomplice, Ciro Veneruso, was sent down for 3 years and 10 months. Both had admitted providing drugs to the rider.
The upholding of Carlino’s sentence was based in part on the role he played in the final days of Pantani. He had originally met the rider towards the end of 2003 in a disco in Milano Marittima. Following that meeting, Pantani bought cocaine from Miradossa on at least four occasions. The rider arranged for a new batch to be sold to him on February 9th 2004, but before that took place, Miradossa received a message on his phone from Pantani’s mother warning him not to supply any more drugs to her son, and saying that she had paid a private detective to shadow him.
Realising the usual chain of supply was too dangerous, Carlino arranged for Veneruso to instead meet with the rider at the Rose hotel in Rimini and give him the cocaine.
According to Romagnanoi.it, the judge ruled that in doing that, he essentially played the same role as someone who tells a killer where to find the intended victim.
The court yesterday ruled that the original sentence should stand. According to Biciciclismo, Pantani’s mother Tonina said that she took some satisfaction from the ruling, but that it didn’t clarify what happened in the lead up to her son’s death on St. Valentine’s Day, 2004.
Carlino’s lawyers have indicated that they will appeal to the Supreme Court.