Peru’s ex-president Alejandro Toledo convicted of corruption, sentenced to 20 years in prison

Peruvian former President Alejandro Toledo was convicted on Monday of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison.

The verdict marks Peru’s first high-profile conviction in connection with Brazil’s Lava Jato corruption scandal.

Toledo, a 78-year-old economist with a PhD from Stanford University, ruled the Andean country between 2001 and 2006.

He was convicted, according to prosecutors, of taking $35 million in bribes from the company formerly known as Odebrecht in exchange for winning a contract to build the road that now connects Peru’s southern coast to an Amazon region in western Brazil.

During the year-long trial, Toledo denied charges of money laundering and conspiracy.

Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, was at the center of Latin America’s biggest corruption scandal after admitting in 2016 that it had bribed officials in a dozen countries to win public works contracts.

Last week, Toledo asked the court to let him serve his sentence at home while he battles cancer. “Please let me heal or die at home,” he said.

The verdict was announced in a room in a small prison in Lima, where Toledo has been held since last year.

Former President Pedro Castillo is also being held there as he faces “rebellion” charges after he tried to dissolve Congress in 2022.

Two other ex-presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also being investigated in the Odebrecht case.

Toledo, who famously shined shoes as a child, was arrested in the US in 2019 after officials in Peru requested his extradition.

Prosecutors relied on testimony from former Odebrecht director Jorge Barata and Toledo’s ex-employee Josef Maiman, who said Toledo received bribes.

The former president signed the contract with Odebrecht for the construction of the road, although its construction took place during two successive administrations.