The prosecution had requested life terms for 28 defendants and a total of 4,675 years in jail terms for others. The verdicts include 2,665 years of jail terms. Nearly $10 million in fines were imposed. Among the 114 declared innocent were 49 against whom the prosecutors did not seek guilty verdicts.

Much of the reaction to the verdict by public authorities was subdued in recognition of the fact that the Mafia is still very much alive in Sicily. Proof of that arrived less than four hours after the sentencing when one of the defendants declared innocent, Antonino Ciulla, was murdered immediately after he was released from custody.

About a thousand lawyers, defendants and spectators had been waiting for three hours when Presiding Judge Alfonso Giordano entered the amphitheater-shaped courtroom and began, ''In the name of the Italian people . . .'' Financier Gets 7 Years

The short, plump judge, who grew a beard during the 35 days he guided jury deliberations, read as fast as he could. A nearly indecipherable stream of names and legal citations poured forth. Gradually it became apparent that men once considered untouchable were being sent to jail.

Ignazio Salvo, a rich and well-connected financier, was sentenced to seven years in prison for criminal conspiracy. He had been described in testimony as a key mediator between the Mafia and Sicily's political and business elite. After his sentence was read the jury's intentions were obvious.

In the 30 grilled cages that line the back of the room men leaned forward against the bars listening attentively but without expression. Wearing a plush shearling coat, Mr. Greco, who was captured 10 days after the trial began on Feb. 10, 1986, turned away and paced the back of his cage smoking a pipe. His nephew, Giuseppe Greco, chewed gum ever faster.

As the jury of four women and two men stood next to him, Judge Giordano read at a furious pace for an hour and a half. In a courtroom where catcalls and shouted insults from the gallery and from the cages have been the norm, there was only silence when he finished. 'A Great Wager,' Mayor Says