The World - News from Aug. 23, 1988

A leading Sicilian judge said that Mafia gangsters sentenced in a mass trial last year could be released in December because of laws setting time limits between court sentences and appeals. Palermo Appeals Court President Carmelo Conti said in an interview that he has written to Italy’s governing body of judges, warning them it was “extremely unlikely” that the mass appeal trial would start within the 12-month time limit. About 340 gangsters were sentenced to jail terms totaling 2,700 years after a 22-month-long trial that ended last Dec. 16. If the appeal does not begin within a year, convicted defendants can legally be released if they are not wanted for other crimes.