They sentence Murillo to 70 months in prison in the US and rule out any agreement

The former Minister of Government and strong man in the management of the former temporary president Jeanine Áñez, Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, He was sentenced to 70 months in prison, that is, five years and 10 monthsin Florida county, United States (USA), for the crime of conspiracy to launder bribes from the irregular purchase of tear gas between 2019 and 2020.

The Attorney General affirmed that the penalty confirms the non-existence of any negotiationHowever, from the opposition they insist that there is a deal with the DEA to capture Evo Morales.

“The former Bolivian Government Minister was sentenced today to 70 months in prison for conspiracy to launder bribes he received in exchange for corruptly assisting a US company to win a lucrative contract with the Bolivian government,” says the official statement from the United States Department of Justice.

Yesterday attorney Wilfredo Chávez He had announced a sentence of 7 years and reported that it is the highest sentence that was given in relation to the others involved in the criminal process. “This destroys any possibility or thesis that it was indicated that a situation had been negotiated, that there was information involved, etc. The judicial decision is very clear, it is not political persecution,” said the authority.

Although Chávez ruled out any type of agreement, the deputy of Comunidad Ciudadana (CC), Senaida Rojas, said that “apparently (Murillo) negotiated the reduction of his sentence and now the DEA has solid evidence against the Chapare boss. It is a matter of time before the capture and delivery of Mr. Morales to the North American justice, since in Bolivia there is no independent justice”, the parliamentarian wrote yesterday.

Last year, Murillo and his former chief of staff Sergio Méndez were arrested in the states of Florida and Georgia.. Police authorities also arrested Americans Luis Berkman, Bryan Berkman and Philip Lichtenfeld.

According to the records, the ex-authority acquired a batch of tear gas from the Condor company, through the North American intermediary Bravo Tactical Solutions LLC (BTS). That company paid US$3.3 million for a batch of riot control material that it later sold to the Bolivian State for US$5.6 million, which evidenced an overprice of $2.3 million, which was transferred to accounts in the United States for the benefit of the former minister and his accomplices.

For this case, Méndez received a sentence of 42 months in prison; Luis Berkman, 38 months; Bryan Berkman, 28 months and Lichtenfeld, 26 months. Only Murillo was missing.
The reading of the former minister’s sentence was private. According to attorney Thomas Becker, who traveled to Miami to witness the hearing, There were not many people in the place and he said that even the judge took him out of the room at the request of the ex-authority.

“There were not many people, I saw that a Murillo conspirator was there, he was there, a couple of lawyers and the State, a couple of other people, but Murillo told the judge that the lawyer for the victims (exit), he was angry because (I) was there. So they took me out and they took everyone out”, recounted Becker, who had been evicted before the sentence was read.

The news of the condemnation of the ex-minister was well received by the ruling party. Senator Andrónico Rodríguez maintained that Murillo has pending proceedings in Bolivia for the violent acts of 2019. While the now Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, affirmed that this shows that the denunciations made by the Government were true.

“The coup was not only to seize power and assassinate our people, youIt was also to loot and steal the State”, wrote the authority on their official social networks.

Prosecutor Wilfredo Chávez assured that the sentence is final and consequently this would enable an extradition process by the Prosecutor’s Office, Prosecutor’s Office and Foreign Ministry. For the opposition deputy Alejandro Reyes, the extradition of the former government minister will be used as a “political trophy” because there is no confidence in Bolivian justice. On the other hand, the State will process the return of the $532,000 that Murillo received as a bribe. “$2.3 million have been mocked, of which $532,000 have gone into the hands of Arturo Murillo as head of this organized gang,” Chávez concluded.