An ex-spy and a former journalist were among those jailed Friday after a blockbuster trial detailed a network of violence and criminality linked to a French masonic lodge just outside Paris.
A Paris court heard hundreds of hours of evidence of murder attempts, industrial espionage and outlandish plots over more than three months. Of the 22 defendants in the dock, 17 were convicted and five acquitted.
Among the most serious charges were the murder of a racing driver, the attempted murders of a business coach and a trade unionist, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy — all on behalf of a mafia network inside the former Athanor Masonic Lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux.
The mastermind of the operation, Daniel Beaulieu, had served in the French domestic intelligence agency and has described himself as a devotee of magic and mind control.
The former freemason used these tricks to convince a hitman that he was working on behalf of the state, rather than settling scores and carrying out contracts for Beaulieu.
The 72-year-old, now using a wheelchair after trying to take his own life, was handed a 30-year sentence on Friday — the longest term given to any of the defendants.
He confessed to all the charges he faced except for the murder of Laurent Pasquali, a driver who once competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race. His remains were discovered in a forest in 2019.
While the fate of Pasquali was a key piece of the jigsaw, but the defendants shed little light on his demise during the trial.
The man accused of murdering Pasquali was acquitted, and a married couple accused of hiring the killer to recover a debt from the racing driver were also acquitted of criminal conspiracy.
In all, 17 defendants were given sentences ranging from a six-month suspended sentence to 30 years in jail.
They included former journalist Frederic Vaglio, 55, also an ex-freemason, who was jailed for 25 years.
Sebastien Leroy, a 36-year-old former security guard who acted as a hitman, was given 27 years behind bars — five years more than the prosecution had asked for.