The prosecutor in the case had asked for the maximum penalty.
(CNN) -
Two American students have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of an Italian police officer in an alleged drug deal gone awry.
On Wednesday night, a jury in Rome found Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 20, guilty of stabbing Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega to death in July 2019.
Both were sentenced to life in prison.
'The
carabiniere
of all'
Prosecutor Maria Sabina Calabretta had argued that, given the circumstances of the case, the two should receive the maximum penalty allowed under Italian law.
Italy does not have the death penalty.
Rosa Maria Esilio, Rega's widow, reacted gratefully to the verdict.
"We can only give thanks for the complicated work of the judges, thank our talented lawyers and all the people who really were on Mario's side because they knew him, because he was everyone's son, because he was
everyone's
carabiniere
," he said after ad.
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Mario Cerciello Rega photographed with his wife on their wedding day.
The policeman received eight stab wounds
Renato Borzone, the lawyer representing Elder, had previously said that the prosecution's request for life imprisonment did not take into account the "anomalies" observed during the course of the investigation.
According to him, these were "aimed at presenting the facts in a different way from how they evolved."
Agent Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, was stabbed eight times at 2 a.m. on July 26, 2019 in the Patri neighborhood of Rome.
The incident happened near the hotel where the two men were staying, police said at the time.
Later that night, Rega was pronounced dead.
Police alleged that Elder and Natale-Hjorth, who were 19 and 18 when they were arrested, stabbed Rega while trying to retrieve a stolen backpack.
Police said Elder confessed to stabbing Rega, but said he had acted in self-defense.
Elder and Natale-Hjorth were allegedly sold crushed aspirin for US $ 80, instead of a gram of cocaine, in the Trastevere district of Rome.
When they found out they had been duped, police say, they went back and stole the backpack from the man who had put them in contact with the person who sold them the aspirin.
They were supposedly trying to get the money back and get real cocaine.
After the owner of the stolen bag contacted police, officers encountered Elder and Natale-Hjorth, police said.
The policemen were unarmed and did not wear uniforms.
The police claimed that during the encounter Elder and Natale-Hjorth assaulted the officers, who allegedly identified themselves as such.
The two Americans had previously said that the cops attacked them first.
CNN's Hada Messia and Vasco Cotovio contributed to the report.