An Italian court has sentenced 32 individuals to over 170 years in prison for their involvement in the 2018 Morandi Bridge collapse that killed 43 people. Giovanni Castellucci, former head of Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), received the longest sentence of 12 years. Other former ASPI managers, engineers from its subsidiary SPEA, and former ministry officials were also convicted. Of the 57 on trial, 25 were acquitted or cleared due to the statute of limitations. Victims' families viewed the verdicts as important acknowledgments of responsibility from ASPI, SPEA, and the ministry. However, the rulings are subject to appeal, with Castellucci's defense planning to contest his conviction. Prosecutors argued years of poor maintenance and ignored warnings led to the disaster, a conclusion supported by an expert report. This report cited corrosion of steel cables within a bridge pier as the trigger, stemming from inadequate maintenance. The defense, however, attributes the collapse to an original design defect. The disaster led to a dispute between ASPI's parent company and the Italian government, resulting in the sale of ASPI's controlling stake. The legal process in Italy allows for multiple appeals of first-instance rulings.