Chico Forti has been granted semi-liberty. The decision was made by the surveillance court of Verona, where the hearing concerning the man took place last Wednesday. Forti was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States for the death of Dale Pike, which occurred in February 1998 in Miami. Forti is being held in Verona after spending 25 years in prison in Florida.
The court's decision will not significantly change Forti's daily routine compared to recent months: since last December, he has been performing 40 hours of voluntary work per week at a farm in the Verona area, leaving the Montorio prison in the morning — where he has been held since his arrival in Italy in May 2024 — and returning in the evening, something he will continue to do under the semi-liberty arrangement.
What happens next will depend on the programme established by the prison administration. In addition to continuing his work, Forti — who is represented by lawyers Alessandro Favazza of the Verona Bar and Carlo Dalla Vedova of the Rome Bar — hopes to be able to visit his mother, who lives in Trento, much more frequently. From a legal standpoint, a decision on parole is still pending, having been requested last year.
The hearing could take place as early as the first few months of 2027.
