Venice mayor resigns after reaching plea deal in sweeping corruption scandal

MILAN – Venice’s mayor has resigned amid a corruption scandal a day after being released from house arrest under a plea deal.

Mayor Giorgio Orsoni announced his resignation Friday, indicating a lack of support from the Democratic Party since his arrest last week in a wide-ranging corruption probe related to construction of underwater barriers to protect the lagoon city from flooding.

Orsoni has said he was unaware that any donations to his 2010 election campaign were illegal. He was released from house arrest Thursday after accepting a four-month sentence in a plea agreement. Such short sentences are rarely served in Italy.

Orsoni was among more than 30 people arrested in an investigation into suspicions that the consortium building the underwater barriers amassed a 25-million-euro ($34 million) slush fund abroad to bribe officials.