ROME - Italy's top criminal court has upheld the conviction of a longtime aide to ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi for Mafia association.

 

The Court of Cassation in Rome Friday night let stand the conviction and seven-year prison term handed down by a Palermo court in 2010 to Marcello Dell'Utri, who had served as an executive in Berlusconi's business empire and a senator in his centre-right party.

 

Last month, Dell'Utri was detained in Lebanon after he was declared a fugitive by Italian authorities. Dell'Utri had been discovered staying at a Beirut hotel, but he is currently detained in a hospital after falling ill. [Link]