The Federal Supreme Court (STF) of Brazil sentenced former President Fernando Collor de Mello on Thursday for the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering, in a bribery trial he received between 2010 and 2014, when he served as a senator.
The sentence will be set in a session scheduled for next Wednesday, in which the ten STF magistrates will vote, eight of whom considered Collor (1990-1992) guilty and two others declared him innocent.
Before defining the penalty, the magistrates will have to decide if they also sentence him for the crimes of criminal association and participation in a criminal organization.
Magistrate Edson Fachin, instructor of the case, had initially proposed a sentence of 33 years in prison and a pecuniary penalty of 20 million reais (4 million dollars).
Despite the sentence imposed by the highest court, the former president may remain free until the court judges the resources to which he is still entitled, which can prolong the process for several months.
In addition, although the court determined that the convicted person begins to serve his sentence in a closed regime, the lawyers may present appeals so that he can serve it at home due to his age, 73 years, since the defendants over 70 years of age have criminal benefits.
According to the complaint filed by the Prosecutor's Office in 2015, the former head of state used his influence in politics to benefit businessman Joao Lyra, with whom he maintains a "relationship" in fraudulent contracts with BR Distribuidora, a subsidiary of the state oil company Petrobras. of friendship".
For intermediating in the concession of such contracts, for a total value of 240 million reais (today 48 million dollars), the former president received a "commission" equivalent to about 15% of that amount, according to what was proven by the Justice.
Collor governed Brazil between 1990 and 1992, when he resigned from the mandate at a time when Parliament was preparing to conclude an impeachment trial against him, on charges of alleged corruption of which he would later be acquitted in the same Supreme Court.
Between 2007 and 2023 he held a seat in the Senate and last year he was an unsuccessful candidate for the position of governor of the state of Alagoas, which he had already held before reaching the Presidency.
