El Salvador Frees Ex-President Saca After 10-Year Corruption Sentence
Key Takeaways
- •Former Salvadoran President Elias Antonio “Tony” Saca was released on Thursday after completing a 10-year sentence for diverting and laundering more than $300 million in state funds during his 2004-2009 administration.
- •A plea deal reduced Saca's potential 30-year sentence to 10 years, and although he was sentenced in 2018, the term was backdated to his 2016 arrest.
- •Saca is the only one of four consecutive Salvadoran presidents to face corruption charges who served prison time, as Francisco Flores died before trial and Mauricio Funes and Salvador Sanchez Ceren fled to Nicaragua.
- •The corruption cases crossed party lines, involving the conservative ARENA party under which Saca served and the left-wing FMLN through which Funes and Sanchez Ceren reached the presidency.
- •In separate civil proceedings, Saca was ordered to repay millions of dollars to the state, a financial obligation distinct from the criminal sentence that ended with his release.
SAN SALVADOR — Elias Antonio “Tony” Saca, the former Salvadoran president imprisoned for corruption, walked free on Thursday after completing a 10-year sentence, his lawyer said, standing alongside the politician as they exited a courthouse.
Mr. Saca, 61, had pleaded guilty to diverting and laundering more than $300 million from the state budget during his 2004-2009 administration. A plea deal allowed him to reduce a potential 30-year sentence to 10 years.
His lawyer, Mario Machado, said the former president had served his term in full and received no early-release benefits.
“The 10 years were completed,” Mr. Machado said. “We have come to the court to formally report the release. This was requested just yesterday.”
Although Mr. Saca was sentenced in 2018, his prison term was backdated to 2016, when he was arrested during his son's wedding.
The release closes a chapter unusual by El Salvador's standards. Mr. Saca is one of four consecutive Salvadoran presidents to have faced corruption charges, yet the only one of the group to serve time behind bars. Francisco Flores, who led the country from 1999 to 2004, died before his trial could begin. Mauricio Funes, who succeeded Mr. Saca in 2009, and Salvador Sanchez Ceren, president from 2014 to 2019, fled to Nicaragua. The cases crossed party lines, spanning the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), under which Mr. Saca served, and the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the party through which both Mr. Funes and Mr. Sanchez Ceren reached the presidency.
Before entering politics, Mr. Saca worked as a businessman and radio broadcaster. He served as president under ARENA. In 2014, after his expulsion from the party, he sought to return to the presidency with the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), but the Supreme Court ruled his candidacy unconstitutional.
Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Saca diverted state funds for personal use and to benefit his allies, including by funneling large sums of money to his party. In separate civil proceedings, he was ordered to repay millions of dollars to the state, a financial obligation distinct from the criminal sentence that ended with Thursday's release.
Source: Reuters via BusinessWorld
