Graziano Mesina, one of Italy’s most notorious criminals, passed away in a Milan hospital on Saturday at the age of 83 due to cancer.
Mesina had been serving a 24-year prison sentence for drug trafficking in Milan since 2021 but was transferred to the hospital on Friday. The infamous felon died just one day after his arrival.
Originally from Sardinia, Mesina was famous for his dramatic prison escapes. According to La Repubblica, he attempted to escape prison 22 times and succeeded on 10 occasions. Local media reported that he once jumped from a train during a transfer and disguised himself as a priest on another occasion. In 1970, he attended a Cagliari football match dressed as a woman.
Despite these escapes, Mesina spent over 40 years of his life behind bars. In the 1960s and 70s, he led a gang of kidnappers and wielded significant influence in Sardinia. In 1992, his influence was so substantial that he was called upon to negotiate the release of a kidnapped boy, for which the then-president granted him a pardon.
However, this pardon was revoked after Mesina was arrested in 2013 for orchestrating a major drug trafficking operation. In 2020, Italy’s highest court sentenced him to 24 years in prison for drug trafficking, but he managed to escape again. He was ultimately re-arrested in 2021 in Sardinia.
