Lima, Peru: Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo has been sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison after being found guilty of taking $35 million in bribes from the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. The payments were made in relation to a lucrative freeway construction contract during his time in office from 2001 to 2006.
Toledo, now 78 and battling cancer, requested clemency at a recent hearing, requesting to finish his final days at home. Toledo stated that, “I want to go to a private clinic. I ask you to please let me get better or die at home.”
The conviction is one of the harshest penalties yet handed out in the widespread Odebrecht corruption scandal, which has trapped officials across Latin America. Despite denying charges of money laundering and collusion throughout his yearlong trial, Toledo was deported from the United States in 2022 after his arrest in 2019.
Odebrecht’s network of bribery has stunned political landscapes in several countries, including Peru, Panama, and Ecuador. Investigations into corruption tied to the company, which has since rebranded as Novonor have also taken place in Guatemala and Mexico. In 2019, Peru imprisoned 14 prominent lawyers for allegedly providing Odebrecht with preferential treatment in public works contracts.
Toledo will serve his sentence in a specially designated prison outside Lima, built for former presidents. He may soon be joined by two more ex-presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, who are also under investigation for similar cases linked to Odebrecht. Additionally, former President Pedro Castillo remains detained as he faces charges of rebellion following his attempt to dissolve Congress in 2022.
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