‘Town of welcome’ Italian mayor given jail term for aiding illegal immigration

Prosecutors alleged that Lucano facilitated marriages of convenience between Italian men in the town of Riace and foreign women to get the women Italian residency permits. Picture: Luigi Salsini/LaPresse via AP

The former mayor of a small Italian town dubbed “the town of welcome” has been convicted of aiding illegal immigration and sentenced to 13 years and two months in prison.

Domenico “Mimmo” Lucano was also convicted of fraud, embezzlement, criminal association and abuse of office by a court in Calabria, a region in the south of the Italian peninsula.