Italian mayor once feted for migrant integration gets 13-year jail term

FILE PHOTO: The mayor of Riace town, Domenico Lucano, poses in Riace, Italy, April 22, 2016. Picture taken April 22, 2016. Kontrolab via REUTERS/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - A former Italian mayor who won worldwide plaudits for his innovative approach in integrating migrants was sentenced to 13 years and two months of jail on Thursday for irregularities in managing the asylum seekers in his town, his lawyers said.

Domenico Lucano, 63, was mayor of Riace, a medieval hilltop village of around 1,900 residents in Italy's southern Calabria region, from 2004 to 2018. He was listed by Fortune magazine as one of the world's top 50 leaders in 2016.