An exasperated Luigi Scotti told reporters in Rome Tuesday, "Everything in this country is getting absurd."

The object of Scotti's ire is Judge Edi Pinatto, formerly head of the court in Gela.

The ANSA news agency said Pinatto had sentenced seven top members of the Giuseppe Madonia family to extensive prison terms at the end of their trial in 2000. Fortunately for the wise guys, who included Madonia's wife, Pinatto never submitted the statutory "motivation" documents, which resulted in all seven going free in 2002.

Pinatto is no longer a judge, but only because he is now a federal prosecutor. He told ANSA he was well aware Madonia's wife and other mobsters were walking the streets as a result of his procrastination.

''It isn't the first time that things like this have happened and I'm not the only one who takes so much time," Pinatto said. " I'll write to you in a few months after I've worked my way through the cases piled up on my desk."