Nicola Cosentino (born 2 January 1959) is an Italian politician. Nicknamed "Nick 'o mericano", he was a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

from 9 May 1996 to 14 March 2013 for

Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...

and

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...

in four legislatures, as well as undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 12 May 2008 to 14 July 2010 in the

fourth Berlusconi government The fourth Berlusconi government was the 60th Cabinet (government), government of Politics of Italy, Italy, in office from 8 May 2008 to 16 November 2011. It was the fourth government led by Silvio Berlusconi, who then became the longest-serving ...

. In 2023, Italy's

Supreme Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

confirmed his conviction for external complicity in mafia association.

Early life and family

Cosentino was born in

Casal di Principe Casal di Principe (Campanian: or simply ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about southwest of Caserta. It has a population of approximately 21,000 ...

, one of

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

's strongholds near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, in the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

region. He is a distant relative of the

Casalesi clan The Casalesi clan is a clan within the Camorra, an Italian criminal organization, operating from San Cipriano d'Aversa in the province of Caserta. Formed by Antonio Bardellino, it is a confederation of clans in the Caserta area. The Casalesi cla ...

member Giuseppe Russo.

Career

Cosentino, a member of the Italian Socialist Democratic Party, was municipal councillor in 1978−1980, then provincial councillor from 1980 to 1995. In that year, he was elected into the Chamber of Deputies for Forza Italia. In 2005, he ran for the presidency of the

province of Caserta The province of Caserta () is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta, situated about by road north of Naples. The province has an area of , and a population of 907,442. The Palace of Caserta is located nea ...

but was defeated by the

centre-left coalition The centre-left coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1995, when The Olive Tree was formed under the leadership of Romano Prodi. The centre-left coalition has ruled the c ...

candidate Sandro De Franciscis. Cosentino was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in April 2008 for The People of Freedom,

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition () is a political alliance of political parties in Italy active under several forms and names since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed the party. It has mostly competed with the centre-left c ...

party. In September 2008, through the confession of Camorra boss Gaetano Vassallo, he was implicated in a criminal scheme that involved the illegal treatment of toxic wastes in exchange of a monthly sum of €50,000. In 2009, magistrates Naples' anti-mafia commission sent to the Chamber of Deputies the request of arrest for Cosentino but its commission refused. In 2010, Cosentino was involved in a scandal related to wind energy systems in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, which led to the discovery of the new P2 or P3 (a reference to the

Propaganda Due (; P2) was a Masonic lodge, founded in 1877, within the tradition of Continental Freemasonry and under the authority of Grand Orient of Italy. Its Masonic charter was withdrawn in 1976, and it was transformed by Worshipful Master Licio Gell ...

, a secret Masonic lodge of the 1970s−early 1980s, of which Berlusconi was a member). He was called in by several entrepreneurs and right-wing politicians. According to the Ordinary Court in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, the accuses were pressuring the

Constitutional Court of Italy The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic () is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sessions are held in Palazzo della Consulta in Rome. ...

to consider as legitimate the

Lodo Alfano The Lodo Alfano (roughly "Alfano Law"), named after the Minister of Justice Angelino Alfano, was an Italian law, valid between 2008 and 2009, granting immunity from prosecution to the four highest political offices in Italy (the president of Itali ...

, a law that would have saved Berlusconi, the then Italian prime minister, from several of his trials; it was declared invalid; supporting the readmission of the For Lombardy regional list in the regional elections in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

(the list had been banned due to use of fake signatures on the petitions that are required for a political party, or list of candidates to be placed on the ballot); favouring the appointment of Alfonso Marra in the Court of Appeal in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

; and supporting the candidature of Cosentino as president of Campania through a smear campaign against the other right-wing candidate. On 14 July 2010, Cosentino resigned as undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Economy, although he retained the role as regional coordinator of The People of Freedom in Campania, a position he held until 21 January 2013. On 27 April 2023, Cosentino was definitively sentenced to 10 years in prison for external complicity in mafia association.

References

External links

Nicola Cosentino
at Camera.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Cosentino, Nicola 1959 births Deputies of Legislature XIII of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of Italy Forza Italia politicians Forza Italia (2013) politicians Italian Democratic Socialist Party politicians Living people People from the Province of Caserta Politicians of Campania The People of Freedom politicians