The incredible story of the Italian pizza maker, Edgardo Greco, arrested in Saint-Étienne in February 2023, is experiencing a new twist.
The Court of Appeal of Lyon (Rhône) decided to reject a new request for release – the third – under judicial supervision.
“We are disappointed,” confides his lawyer, Me David Métaxas.
But the legal marathon has only just begun, we are appealing to the Court of Cassation.
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Sentenced in Italy to life imprisonment in 2006 for two homicides and an attempted murder committed in 1991 on behalf of the Calabrian mafia, Edgardo Greco does not want to return to his country of origin.
For sixteen years, until his arrest, he lived under a false identity in Saint-Étienne (Loire), working as a pizza maker in several restaurants in the city as well as in Lyon.
In the Loire prefecture, he even opened his own business, proudly posing for photos in the local press to publicize his establishment.
A photo which the transalpine police had seized and which had allowed them to trace the fugitive thanks to facial recognition.
If, obviously, “Paolo Dimitrio”, as he called himself since the 2020s, no longer has anything to do with the killer Edgardo Greco of the 1990s, he is nonetheless considered an international criminal on the other side of the Alps.
A job awaits him in Saint-Étienne
Now aged 64, the former henchman of the 'Ndrangheta, whose health is failing, trembles at the idea of finding himself behind the bars of an Italian jail until the end of his days.
“My client has no ties to Italy where he risks life imprisonment.
He is 64 years old and has heart problems.
He has not committed any offense for twenty-five years.
He spent a year in detention for nothing.
Leave him alone!
», exclaims Me Métaxas.
However, the courts are not of this opinion, having just decided to keep him in detention.
After the rejection of this request for release, the Lyon Court of Appeal will study the defendant's extradition request next Thursday, February 15.
“I don’t understand their position.
I maintain that after a year, he must be placed under judicial supervision.
This is the principle of freedom,” insists the Lyon lawyer.
Fatalist, Edgardo Greco hoped to finally be able to find his family in Saint-Étienne, he who benefits from an accommodation certificate and even a promise of employment.
Because in the Italian restaurants of Saint-Étienne, “Paolo Dimitrio” left the memory of a kind, hardworking man who was friendly with the customers.
His story quickly went around the world.
So much so that at the beginning of February, his lawyer David Métaxas announced on social networks that he had been contacted by Netflix.
The streaming platform would be keen to adapt its client's sulphurous story to the small screen.
“Series project in progress,” he tweeted.