Former President Lula Is Found Guilty of Corruption and Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

07/12/2017 - 15h49

Former President Luiz Inácio da Silva was sentenced on Wednesday (the 12th) to 9 years and 6 months in prison for the crimes of corruption and money laundering in the case involving the triplex apartment in Guarujá (SP State).

This is a huge blow to the former president, who left office in 2010 with record approval ratings and international stature.

The sentence handed down by Judge Sergio Moro is the first against Lula within the scope of the so-called Car Wash (Lava Jato) investigation.

The former president will not be placed under arrest yet. He will remain free on appeal.

In the case, Lula is accused of receiving R$3,7 million (US$ 1,2 million) in bribes from construction company OAS stemming from the company's contracts with Petrobras.

This amount, according to the charges, is related to the company ceding the triplex apartment to the former president and for the subsequent refurbishing and remodeling of the property as well as transportation and storage of the presidential collection.

Moro, however, acquitted the ex-president on the charges related to the transportation and storage of the presidential collection.

In sentencing, the Judge declared that the immediate imprisonment of a former president "does not fail to entail certain traumas" and that it was "prudent" to recommend that he await the judgment on appeal.

The former president, who has steadfastly denied the accusations, is still facing four other cases related to the Car Wash investigation, one of them being conducted by Moro and the other three by the Judiciary in Brasília.

Lula hasn't yet been sentenced in any of them.

In the most recent survey conducted by Datafolha in June, Lula, who has been maintaining that he will be a candidate in 2018, polled in first place in voter preferences.

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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	Pedro Ladeira/Folhapress
	Former President Lula is Found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 9 years in prison