up to 30 years of criminal imprisonment

After eight weeks of hearings, the verdict in the trial of the double assassination of Tony Quilichini and Jean-Luc Codaccioni was rendered Friday, June 28 in the afternoon by the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court. Prison sentences range from 3 years to 30 years of criminal imprisonment. Two accused were acquitted. No arrest warrant was issued against the people appearing free.

The verdict in the Bastia-Poretta double murder trial fell this Friday, June 28 in the middle of the afternoon.

After having withdrawn since yesterday to a secret location to deliberate, the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court has given its decision concerning the 15 defendants tried for the homicides of Tony Quilichini and Jean-Luc Codaccioni.

The prison sentences handed down this Friday, June 28 concerning people sent back for “organized gang assassination”:

• Christophe Guazzelli was sentenced to 30 years of criminal imprisonment, including 20 years of security. During requisitions, the 32-year-old man was described as “drawer, master builder” by the advocates general. He is also banned from carrying a weapon for 15 years and from traveling to Corsica for 10 years.
• his brother, Richard Guazzelli, presented by the prosecution as “the second man, the driver”receives a sentence of 25 years of imprisonment, including 16 years of security.

• Christophe Andreani, the friend of the Guazzelli brothers, is sentenced to 25 years in prison, including 13 years of security.
• Abdel-Hafid Bekouche gets 25 years, including 15 years of security.

• Cathy Chatelain, the former guard of Borgo prison, is sentenced to 23 years in prison. She is also banned from holding public office. Accused in particular of having designated the two victims to the shooter, she had admitted her participation in the criminal plan of December 5, 2017. As she had suggested in a letter addressed last week to President Jean-Yves Martorano, she returned to the dock this Friday to attend the verdict. Her daughter, whom she has not seen for six years, was present in the courtroom of the Monclar Palace in Aix-en-Provence.

The prison sentences handed down for the accused dismissed for “complicity in organized gang assassination”:

• 25 years of imprisonment for Ange-Marie Michelosi, including 15 years of security.
• Jaouad Sebbouba was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Prison sentences handed down to the accused referred for “criminal association”:

• 10 years for Jacques Mariani. Prosecuted for “repeated criminal association with a view to preparing a crime”, he played, according to the prosecution, a role of “advise” in the double assassination project.
• Jimmy Bailleul was sentenced to 9 years in prison, 4 of which were marked by concurrent sentences.
• Riad Belgacem was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was on the run and did not appear at the assizes court during the entire trial.

Among the five accused tried for “criminal associations” who appeared free, no arrest warrant was issued. Two men were acquitted by the assize court.

• Acquittal for François Marchioni.
• Acquittal for Jose Menconi.
• 5 years in prison, including 3 years suspended, for Gaelle Sker, the companion of Richard Guazzelli
• 3 years of imprisonment with judicial follow-up for Dominique Sénéchal, Cathy Chatelain’s ex-husband. Having already served 22 months in prison from June 2018, he will not be imprisoned again.
• 5 years, including 3 years suspended, for Chloé Castellana, the former partner of Christophe Guazzelli.

Presented as figures of local organized crime, Jean-Luc Codaccioni and Tony Quilichini were shot dead on December 5, 2017 on the forecourt of Poretta airport.

According to the prosecution, this double murder was part of a revenge attack by the “heirs of the Sea Breeze gang” against a backdrop of internal struggles within the island community.

“There are no honor killings, there are only horror crimes,” Yvon Calvet, one of the two attorneys general, said last Monday during the requisitions.

For the prosecution, The double assassination of Bastia-Poretta was prepared with “significant means”.

On Thursday, June 27, before the court retired to deliberate, the accused who were still appearing were given the floor one last time.

During these two months of hearings, the trial was marked by numerous twists and turns: following a standoff with President Jean-Yves Martorano concerning the modification of the schedule for the investigators to take the stand, most of the those tried had challenged their lawyers. Eight of the nine detained defendants have refused to appear since May 23. Only Jacques Mariani returned to the box accompanied by his advice.

The five accused who appeared free also attended the entire proceedings and the decision rendered this Friday by the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court.

For the time being, only Jacques Mariani’s lawyers have announced that they will appeal this verdict.