In 1979, he received a law degree, with a dissertation in Civil Law, from the University of Milan. He became a lawyer after spending two years working as a Legal Affairs Manager for various companies. [1]
In 1990, he was elected Province Secretary of the Northern League in Varese. He also became a town councilor in Varese that year. Two years later, he was elected Chairman of the Northern League Parliamentary Group. He also entered the party's Federal Council and campaigned heavily for the Northern League prior to Berlusconi's first Cabinet.
In April 2006, after Berlusconi narrowly lost his re-election bid to Romano Prodi, Maroni alleged problems with the election comparable to those in Florida during the 2000 Presidential election. "The level pegging is very similar to what happened in Florida. With one vote more or one vote less, you lose or you win," he said. [3]
In September 2006, Maroni told Vanity Fair that he downloads music illegally and thinks music should be "free and accessible to all". [4] He added that authors should still be able to stop their work from being widely distributed on the Internet. Maroni said his confession was intended to spark a discussion in Parliament about changing Italy's copyright laws, which are among the strictest in Europe. [5]
Maroni was convicted of resistance against a public official during a police raid of his party's building in via Bellerio in Milan, and sentenced to 4 months and 20 days.