One of the two Americans convicted in the 2019 stabbing death of an Italian plainclothes police officer has been granted house arrest after an appeals court significantly reduced his original life sentence. Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, who was initially sentenced to life imprisonment, can now serve his 11-year, four-month sentence at the home of a grandparent in the seaside town of Fregene, west of Rome, according to state-run RAI and LaPresse news agencies.
In July 2019, Natale-Hjorth and Finnegan Lee Elder, both from California, were found guilty of killing Carabinieri Vice Brigadier Mario Cerciello Rega in a botched sting operation following a failed drug deal in Rome. The initial trial resulted in life sentences for both men, Italy’s harshest penalty.
However, Italy’s highest court, the Cassation Court, ordered a new trial last year. The court ruled that it hadn’t been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the Americans, with limited Italian-language skills, understood they were dealing with police officers when they went to meet the alleged drug dealer. Earlier this month, an appeals court upheld their convictions but greatly reduced their original sentences.
Finnegan Lee Elder, who wielded the knife during the attack, is now serving a 15-year, two-month prison sentence. The two former schoolmates from the San Francisco Bay area were teenagers at the time of the killing and had met up in Rome for a few days of vacation. The fatal confrontation occurred after they arranged to meet a small-time drug dealer, who turned out to be a police informant, to recover money lost in a bad drug deal. Instead, they were confronted by two officers.
During the altercation, Cerciello Rega was stabbed 11 times with a knife brought from the hotel room. The case has drawn significant attention and controversy, highlighting issues around language barriers and legal procedures in international cases.