Former President of Peru, Ollanta Humala (62), has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for money laundering as part of the Odebrecht corruption scandal.
His wife, Nadine Heredia, received the same sentence, and the judge ordered their immediate arrest.
Humala left the courthouse escorted by police but was not handcuffed.
Humala and Heredia were found guilty of illegally receiving $3 million from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for Humala’s 2011 election campaign. They also accepted around $200,000 from then Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for their 2006 campaign.
The verdict comes over three years after the trial began, and the defence has already announced plans to appeal.
In 2017, Humala and Heredia spent nine months in pretrial detention in connection with this case.
The Odebrecht scandal affected the entire Latin American region, and led to the conviction of dozens of politicians and businesspeople.
In Peru, four former presidents have been implicated: Alejandro Toledo was sentenced to over 20 years in prison last year; Alan Garcia committed suicide during his arrest in 2019, and the trial against Pedro Pablo Kuczynski is yet to begin.
