Italian court rejects appeal by jailed former Berlusconi aide

Rome: Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation on Tuesday threw out an appeal by Marcello Dell'Utri, a former top aide to ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, confirming his seven-year jail term for complicity with the Sicilian mafia.

After being arrested in Lebanon on June 13, 2014, Dell'Utri was extradited to Italy, where he is currently serving the prison sentence, handed out by the Supreme Court in May 2014.

Besides complicity in conspiracy with the Sicilian mafia, 75-year-old Dell'Utri has been found guilty of tax fraud and false accounting.

Dell'Utri is a former senator for Berlusconi's conservative Forza Italia party, which he founded with Berlusconi.