Six Italian scientists and a government official have been found guilty of multiple manslaughter for underestimating the risks of a deadly earthquake in the town of L'Aquila in 2009 that left 309 people dead.
Judge Marco Billi on Monday sentenced all seven members of Italy's Major Risks Committee to six years in prison for failing to warn the population of the risks just days before L'Aquila and surrounding towns were hit by the earthquake.
The members were also ordered to pay court costs and damages.
Among those convicted were some of Italy's most prominent and internationally respected seismologists and geological experts, including Enzo Boschi, former head of the national Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.
"I am dejected, desperate," Boschi said after the verdict. "I thought I would have been acquitted. I still don't understand what I was convicted of."
Some commentators had warned that any convictions would dissuade other experts from sharing their expertise for fear of legal retribution.
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