Gilmando Dani, from the day he was arrested, seemed to have a clear strategy, convinced that he would never change in prison, so much so that the Serious Crimes Court sentenced him on November 29, 2018.
Sentenced to 12 years in prison after the judicial investigation confirmed that, together with Emiljano Shullazi, Endrit Zela and Edrit Qyqe, they had threatened and fined businessman Ylvi Beqja, taking five bank checks and 23% of the former “Volgga” hotel in Durrës, Gilmando Dani has done everything to overturn this decision.
Through at least 13 court proceedings opened in the district courts of Durrës and Kavaja, Gilmando Dani managed to obtain a reduction in his sentence, securing his freedom on October 6, 2024.
Documents obtained by the investigation show that the 47-year-old remained in solitary confinement for 8 years, 5 months and 19 days and he managed to reduce the time he served his sentence by 4 years and 7 months.
In these documents, Dani is described by the prison authorities as a rehabilitated person, who did not pose a social danger, and while serving his sentence had established healthy relationships with the institution’s staff and fellow inmates.
However, a year after his release, Gilmando Dani seems to have not closed accounts with the past. At noon on November 11, a hail of bullets rained down on the car he was traveling in the safest area of the country, that of Mother Teresa Airport, in Rinas.
Rehabilitated from prison
Court documents show that Gilmando Dani was first arrested in February 2006 by the RENEA special forces, following a search warrant issued against him on charges of “illegal possession of combat weapons” and “theft”. At that time he was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison, but this would not be the only sentence he would receive from Albanian justice. He later ended up in prison again in 2012 where he was found guilty of the criminal offense of “Unlicensed production and possession of combat weapons and ammunition”, for which he was sentenced to only one year in prison, even though the law of the time provided for much harsher sentences.
The young man regains his freedom, only to end up in the courtroom again 4 years later.
He was arrested in 2016, where he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for criminal offenses related to extortion and participation in a criminal organization, led by Emiljano Shullazi.
According to the court’s decision, Dani, together with Emiljano Shullazi, Endrit Zela and Edrit Qyqen, had threatened and fined businessman Ylvi Beqja, taking five bank checks and 33% of the former “Volga” hotel in Durrës. He was convicted of the criminal offense of “extortion by threat for the purpose of obtaining property”, committed in the form of a “structured criminal group”. Shullazi’s group was sentenced to a total of 55 years in prison, while the leader of the gang, Emiljano Shullazi, received 14 years and is currently under investigation by the Special Prosecution for other serious criminal offenses.
However, after his arrest, Dani used all the legal maneuvers that would allow him to be released early.
Documents obtained by “shteg.org” show that, without receiving a final decision from the Serious Crimes Court, he turned to district courts to obtain a reduction in sentence, and his requests were approved by the directors of the prisons where he was serving his sentence.
Initially, Dani received a reduced sentence of 2 years, 9 months and 23 days, due to the law that calculates the time of detention while waiting for the completion of the judicial investigation and the issuance of a final decision.
But immediately after the approval of this request, it turns out that Gilmando Dani has again addressed the Durrës court, requesting a “reduction of the sentence to 500 days,” and for this request he referred to the period he spent in prison from April 2016 to December 2021, a date that also coincides with the decision of the appeals court, which upheld the sentence given to the structured criminal group by the Serious Crimes Court.
The Durrës Court rejected this request as not based on the law, but interesting in the court documents is the way prison authorities describe Gilmando Dani while he was serving his sentence in Rrogozhina prison.
In almost all the processes that Dani has filed in court to obtain a reduction in the sentence, he is described as a man of good behavior and not posing a social danger.
“He was not punished with disciplinary measures, maintained good communication and created healthy relationships with the institution’s staff and fellow prisoners. Dani showed himself motivated to respect communication ethics and manifested regular and tolerant behavior in relations with others” – Gilmando Dani is described by prison authorities.
And although no document that “shteg.org” has indicates that the 47-year-old has been punished by the authorities, the media has reported that Dani, along with his group, has spent more than a year in isolation in “41-BISS”. The term “41-bis” is often used as a reference to the strong isolation that is applied to dangerous convicts or to people considered “crime bosses”.
The purpose of “41-BISS” is to cut off any contact between the prisoner and the organization outside the prison, avoiding orders or communications that could direct criminal activity from the cells.
The measure includes total isolation, a ban on communications, restrictions on visits, and strict control of any contact with the outside world.
Other documents show that Dani participated in rehabilitation and cultural activities. He was involved in individual and group counseling sessions, as well as in the institution’s cultural, sports and religious activities. Authorities from the Rrogozhina prison directorate emphasized:
“He actively participated in discussion topics, respected religious rites and activities, and showed good behavior in his relationships with others.”
As a result of his good behavior and claim for rehabilitation, Dani received a reduction of 80 days in his sentence from the Durrës Court in 2023, while another reduction of 2 months and 28 days was granted to him due to the work performed in the isolation facilities.
However, prison directorate documents show that he did not show interest in work, but was interested in vocational training courses, without attending educational programs, although he had completed 12 years of education.
“He participated in rehabilitation activities, including individual and group counseling sessions, where he became an active part of the topics discussed. He also participated in the cultural, sports and religious activities of the institution, respecting rituals and participating in organized religious activities,” continues the description of prison directorate officials.
For good behavior and with the claim that he has been rehabilitated and should be rewarded for this attitude, he managed to obtain a reduction of 80 days from the Durrës court in 2023, while another reduction of 2 months and 28 days seems to have been obtained due to the work performed in the isolation facilities. “Shteg.org” was unable to verify what work Gilmando Dani has specifically performed, but the documents issued by the Rrogozhina prison directorate state that he has never shown interest in work.
“Although he did not show interest in being employed at the institution and was not included in the work organization, Dani was interested in vocational training courses, while he did not show any desire for educational programs, although he had completed 12 years of education,” it is stated in the request files sent to the court by Gilmando Dani.
This is not the only contradiction in the description of Gilmando Dani by the prison directorate.
The Durrës Court finds that it has found no evidence linking the positive description by prison authorities to the requests for reduction of Dani’s sentence.
Sick and working
In March 2023, Gilmando Dani addressed the Durrës court with the 10th lawsuit within a year, requesting a reduction in the months of his sentence.
With 1 year and 6 months left to complete his sentence, Dani went to court to request an alternative sentence, such as staying at home for the remainder of his sentence. In the court application, the 47-year-old justified his request for a reduced sentence by citing the fact that he was ill and that he would be employed as a breakfast attendant at a brokerage company as soon as he was released from prison.
His family circle has also been included as a reason to legalize his release from prison and serving his sentence on parole at home.
The commission established for this purpose at the Rrogozhina Penitentiary Institution states: “The convict has displayed good behavior and attitude, not being punished with disciplinary measures and has displayed regular verbal and non-verbal communication with the institution’s staff and other fellow prisoners, interacting and cooperating with them,” while a copy of his health certificate was administered to the court as documentary evidence.
“During his stay at the Rrogozhina Penitentiary Institution, the prisoner’s health condition has deteriorated as he has encountered significant cardiac problems which have often led to his being taken to hospitals. The deterioration of his health condition makes it almost impossible for the prisoner to receive continuous care and the necessary health services during his stay,” the document states.
But during the judicial investigation, the panel found no evidence that Dani had health problems to legitimize his request to be released from prison.
“The questioning of the responsible doctor of the Penitentiary Institution, and the information received from the Prison Hospital Center, results in the fact that the convict, despite the orientation of the health personnel, did not appear and was hospitalized at the Prison Hospital Center. From this, the Court concludes that clearly such a health situation of the convict was not proven to legitimize the application” – states the court’s decision which decides to reject the request for conditional release.
But the documents show that Gilmando Dani continued his battles at other levels of the judiciary, until on October 6, 2024, he was released from prison, where according to the first letters from the path, it appears that he has physically served only 8 years, 5 months, 19 days.
Until the publication of this article, the Directorate of Prisons did not respond to the questions that “shteg.org” sent regarding the places where Gilmando Dani served his sentence, the reports compiled by the institutions serving the sentence, and the benefits he received within the system, one of the most talked about people in the last 20 years, convicted of criminal offenses ranging from illegal possession of weapons to participation in a criminal organization, such as the one that law enforcement documents show was led by Emiliano Shullazi.
Under the shadow of Shullaz
The story of Gilmando Dani is that of a man who, from the beginning, seemed closely connected to the dark world of post-2000s Tirana.
His name first appeared in police files on February 11, 2006, when he was arrested by RENEA forces, along with Emiljano Shullazi and another accomplice. He was charged with illegal possession of a weapon and complicity in threats. It was the first, but not the last, time that the Shullazi–Dani duo would be mentioned together.
In the years that followed, Gilmando Dani became a well-known figure in the capital’s criminal circles. He was seen as the man who “did the job” for Shullazi, loyal to the end, always in the shadows. In April 2011, during an electoral rally of the Socialist Party, Dani was escorted by the police along with Shullazi, after the latter obstructed political activity. In November of that same year, both were arrested again for illegal possession of weapons. Dani took the blame, saving his friend, and strengthening his reputation as a “trusted man.”
After serving 8 years, in October 2024, he gained his freedom, but with no sign of change. In his circle, it was said that he “had not come out to start over, but to settle old scores.”
Dani had escaped bullets twice, once in 2011 and another in 2015. Both times in the company of Shullazi, on November 11, 2025, luck was not on his side.
Just as it had begun, Gilmando Dani’s life ended on a path marked by crime, wrapped in false documents and locked under a hail of bullets in Rinas. A story that speaks not only of a man’s failure to rehabilitate himself, but also of the failure of a system that, through letters, opened the door to freedom towards death.
Lindita Çela është një gazetare investigative e shquar, e njohur për raportimet e saj të përpikta dhe të guximshme mbi krimin e organizuar dhe korrupsionin në Shqipëri. Me një karrierë që shtrihet për mbi dy dekada, Çela është konsoliduar si një figurë e rëndësishme në fushën e gazetarisë investigative, duke fituar vlerësime si në nivel kombëtar ashtu edhe ndërkombëtar për punën e saj.