Ex-president sentenced to two years in prison for bribery

Antonio Saca, former president of El Salvador, has been sentenced to two years in prison for bribery.

This was disclosed by the country’s attorney-general office (FGR).

The 54-year-old was found guilty of attempting to bribe Ángela Iracema Avelar, an employee of the supreme court of justice (CSJ), with $10,000 in a bid to obtain information about a civil trial the chamber had against him.

He was said to have committed the offence in  2016.

Saca, who served as president from 2004 to 2009, “confessed to having committed the crimes attributed to him,” the attorney-general’s office said.

“As it was established, he has confessed the crimes, and it was recorded that he made the delivery of the $ 10,000 in order to be given the information of the First Chamber of Civil,” a prosecutor of the anti-corruption unit was quoted to have said.

Article 335 of the country’s penal code punishes bribery with sentences from six to ten years in prison but the ex-president was able to reduce his sentence up to eight years by confessing to the crime.

According to La Prensa Grafica, the FGR clarified that the conviction reduction agreement was approved by Douglas Meléndez, the former attorney-general .

The former president is already serving a 10-year sentence for the misuse of about $300 million of public funds and money laundering.

However, the court is yet to decide if the two years will be added to his existing sentence.