Roberto Imparato, the lawyer who was accused of attempting to blackmail Mario Balotelli, has been handed a prison sentence by the Court of Vicenza.
Il Mattino di Padova details how the 32-year-old Italian striker was the victim of an attempted blackmail five years ago, when a woman from Vicenza accused him of raping her.
The then-17-year-old had been pushed by Imparato to make the claims, and the case against Balotelli was dismissed. The former Italy international did not hide the consensual relations between the pair.
Imparato threatened Balotelli, telling him that he would sell the story to the newspapers unless he was paid around €150,000.
The striker gave his version of events in a court testimony in May last year, explaining: “Imparato asked me for money so that the false news would not come out. I had asked the girl to apologise because there would be no future, but certainly not because there had been violence.
“There was never any violence. The relationships we had were always absolutely consensual. I told her that if she was doing that (making the accusation, ed.) she was only doing it to damage my image, because it was all false what she was saying.”
Over the course of the trial, a large amount of evidence was put on display, including text messages, telephone conversations, material from Instagram and WhatsApp voice messages.
The Court of Vicenza found Imparato guilty of attempted blackmail and sentenced him to two years and three months in prison, as well as €80,000 in damages to Balotelli.
Through his lawyer Enrico Baccaro, Balotelli responded to the ruling: “My client is satisfied that the facts have been clarified and that the responsibility of those who were called to answer for the crime has been established.”