NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on the New York sentencing of a former judge who led Guatemala’s soccer federation (all times local): 6:30 p.m. A top New York federal prosecutor says the first sentencing of someone in the U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — The latest on the New York sentencing of a former judge who led Guatemala’s soccer federation (all times local):
6:30 p.m.
A top New York federal prosecutor says the first sentencing of someone in the U.S. in the FIFA (FEE’-fuh) world soccer corruption scandal shows anyone who uses U.S. banks in corrupt schemes can face prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget Rohde’s statement Wednesday explains how U.S. prosecutors were able to prosecute more than 40 people and marketing agencies linked to soccer in the Americas since 2015.
She commented after a judge sentenced an apologetic Hector Trujillo to eight months in prison for taking $174,000 in bribes to steer contracts to Guatemala’s soccer federation.
Trujillo is a former judge. He was arrested in Florida in 2015 and pleaded guilty in June.
FBI New York office head William Sweeney says Trujillo was like many others who’ve pleaded guilty in the “sweeping corruption investigation.” He says they used their powerful positions to satiate their greed.
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5:45 p.m.
The first person to be sentenced in the U.S. in the FIFA (FEE’-fuh) world soccer corruption scandal says his conscience failed him when he accepted bribes.
Hector Trujillo choked up Wednesday as he asked a New York federal judge for forgiveness, saying he’d suffered enough for cheating Guatemala’s soccer federation by accepting bribes to steer contracts its way.
Prosecutors had asked that he serve more than three years in prison while defense lawyers said he should serve no more than the month he spent in prison after his 2015 arrest in Florida.
The judge sentenced him to eight months in prison, saying he had essentially robbed the foundation by taking in bribes money that it might have otherwise received from a U.S. company.
Trujillo was a judge in Guatemala.
World soccer’s governing body had been scarred by scandals for years.
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5 p.m.
The first person sentenced in the U.S. in the world soccer corruption scandal has gotten eight months in prison.
Hector Trujillo is a former judge who led Guatemala’s soccer federation and appeared before a federal judge in New York on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy in June, admitting he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a company trying to secure sports marketing contracts.
World soccer’s governing body, FIFA (FEE’-fuh), had been scarred by scandals for several years before U.S. investigators launched a probe that gained momentum when they secured the cooperation of flamboyant former FIFA executive Chuck Blazer in 2011.
Trujillo was arrested in December 2015 in Port Canaveral, Florida.
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12:30 a.m.
A former judge who led Guatemala’s soccer federation is set to be the first person sentenced in the U.S. in the world soccer scandal.
Hector Trujillo is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday in federal court in New York. Trujillo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy in June.
He admitted to accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from a company trying to secure sports marketing contracts.
Trujillo was arrested in December 2015 in Port Canaveral, Florida.
Prosecutors say the former general secretary of Guatemala’s soccer federation should serve more than three years in prison. Defense lawyers are asking for no prison time for crimes between 2009 and 2016.
World soccer’s governing body, FIFA (FEE’-fuh), has been scarred by scandals for years.
