Last week, a preliminary hearings judge ruled in favor of the plea deal under which the manager of Martinina Srl, Alessandro Forlenza, would be handed a prison term of two years and three months as well as a 2,000-euro fine.

Forlenza had agreed to a plea bargain deal after the company he headed ended up at the center of an investigation into public procurement fraud and bid rigging; an earlier plea deal under which Forlenza would have received a suspended sentence of the same duration had been rejected by the judge.

The presiding judge meanwhile also banned Martinina Srl from taking public contracts for a year and eight months, and ordered the company to pay a fine of 30,000 euros.

Forlenza's mother, Consiglia Caruso, who served as a senior administrator of Martinina Srl, also faces a trial, with her first hearing scheduled for March next year.

'Hellish' conditions

The court found that Martinina had made a profit without providing dignified services, and highlighted the fact that Forlenza had "not handed back, even partially, the proceeds" of his crimes.

Finance police officials documented "inhumane" and "hellish" conditions at the detention center for migrants, according to court papers. According to the evidence, the center was "riddled with worms," had dirty beds and bathrooms and was serving food that was infested with parasites.

The pre-removal centre for migrants had to be placed under the management of a court-appointed administrator two years ago, after a preliminary investigations confirmed those conditions.

Subsequently, another company subsequently won the tender to run the facility but only after Milan prosecutors seized the branch of the Martinina Srl that managed the facility.