The sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto, who are in prison in the United States, will be released on January 25, 2023, according to their corresponding files from the US Federal Bureau of Prisons.
On May 20, the Martinelli Linares brothers were sentenced in a federal court in New York to three years in prison and two on probation, in addition to paying a fine of $250,000 each.
Both, who had already pleaded guilty to laundering 28 million dollars and having carried out bribes in favor of the Brazilian firm Odebrecht, spoke in English, apologized to their families “for making them suffer”, to the Panamanian people and to the Government of the United States and claimed to have been wrong before Judge Raymond Dearie.
In June 2020, when the Prosecutor’s Office and the lawyers for the Martinelli Linares were in the final phase of reaching a plea agreement, both fled the United States with the intention of returning to Panama, but were finally captured in Guatemala.
In total, the United States Government, through the Prosecutor’s Office, estimates the amount paid in bribes at 28 million dollars and, by virtue of the plea agreement, they will have to pay a fine of 19 million dollars to the United States Government, in an amount separate from the $250,000 imposed by the judge.
The Odebrecht company was convicted in 2017 in a New York court for paying $788 million in bribes in 12 countries in Latin America and Africa.
Corruption cases involving Odebrecht have led to major scandals and the opening of court cases in Brazil, Peru, Panama, Ecuador, Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Colombia, at least.
