From 2002 to 2013 he was a member of the Tuscan Northern League. From 2004 to 2009 he was a city councilor in
Vaiano, in the
province of Prato, and from 2005 to 2008 he was provincial secretary of the
Lega Nord in Prato. On June 7, 2009 he was elected for
Lega Nord Padania in the 7th legislature (2009–2014) of the
European Parliament, joining the
Europe of Freedom and Democracy (ELD) Group. From July 16, 2009, to January 18, 2012 he was a member of the
Committee on Budgets and a substitute member of the
Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs in the European Parliament. While remaining a member of the ELD in the European Parliament, as of November 5, 2013, he is listed as independent from his national political party of reference. In 2014 he was a candidate, in the
European elections as the chief candidate of
Associative Movement of Italians Abroad in the
Central Italy Constituency (which gathers the 14 constituencies of
Tuscany, Umbria,
Marche and
Lazio), without being re-elected. On May 30, 2020 he was arrested for continued grand larceny. ==References==