An Italian court on July 16, 2026, sentenced former CEO Giovanni Castellucci to 12 years in prison for his role in the Morandi bridge collapse in Genoa that killed 43 people in 2018 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Castellucci was convicted of manslaughter through negligence and complicity in multiple counts [2, 3, 5, 7]. He was already serving a six-year sentence for a separate fatal road accident in 2013 [1, 2, 5, 7].

The trial involved 57 defendants, of whom 32 were convicted while 25 were acquitted or cleared due to statute of limitations, according to most sources [2, 3, 4, 5, 7]. Other notable convictions include Michele Donferri Mitelli, former head of maintenance at Autostrade, sentenced to 11 years, and Antonino Galatà, former CEO of SPEA engineering, sentenced to 5 years and 6 months [2, 5, 6, 7]. Castellucci's lawyer Giovanni Paolo Accinni called the verdict "a defeat for the truth," saying they will continue to fight for his innocence [2].

The Morandi bridge, which was 51 years old at the time, collapsed on August 14, 2018, during a summer storm when a 50-meter section fell, sending vehicles onto warehouses and a riverbed below [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. The bridge was originally designed by Riccardo Morandi and inaugurated in 1967 [3, 5]. Prosecutors argued the disaster resulted from years of neglected maintenance, ignored warnings, and postponed critical repairs on pillar 9 [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Defendants contended the bridge’s collapse was caused by an original design flaw in stay cable number 9 and said maintenance could not have prevented it [3].

Families of victims expressed grief and some relief at the convictions. Egle Possetti, a spokesperson for victims who lost multiple relatives, said, "I lost my sister, her two children, my brother-in-law and even their little dog. That's where my determination comes from — to make sure they receive justice and that their deaths were not in vain" [2, 3, 6]. Michele Matti Altadonna, a victim's relative, said, "Today we can say there are those guilty of the murder of our relatives. We are here for our loved ones, in their memory" [4].

The current CEO of Autostrade apologized for the disaster, acknowledging the "indelible scars" left by previous management and calling today's apology a "moral imperative" [6, 7]. A new Genoa bridge designed by Renzo Piano was opened in 2020 and spans a memorial to the victims [6].

Prosecutor Walter Cotugno said, "This bridge was a ticking time bomb" [5]. The court trial marked a major judicial reckoning for one of Italy’s deadliest infrastructure disasters.

Appeals or further legal processes have not been reported, making the July 16 verdict the latest concrete development in the case [2, 3, 4, 5, 7].