Benedetto Cipriani, 53 of Meriden, will not be allowed to serve his prison term in Italy. A Connecticut Superior Court judge denied his motion Tuesday morning. In the next day, he should learn the length of his sentence.
Cirpriani was convicted on conspiracy and accessory to murder charges in December, for orchestrating a 2003 triple murder at an auto body shop in Windsor Locks. Cipriani could face life in prison for the murder-for-hire plot. He had been hoping for extradition to Italy, where he holds dual citizenship.
Prosecutors claim he hired three men to kill Robert Stears, 42, the husband of Cipriani’s lover, because she refused to leave her husband. Also shot July 13, 2003 was Stears’ business partner Barry Rossi, 43 and mechanic Lorne Stevens, 43.
Cipriani’s attorneys have requested that he serve out his sentence in Italy. A motion on that request will be held on Tuesday. Cipriani is an Italian citizen, and his lawyers are claiming that a condition of his extradition to the United States.
His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.
