Peru’s former president, Ollanta Humala, and his wife, Nadine Heredia, have each been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of money laundering.
A court in Lima, the capital of Peru, ruled that the couple received illegal campaign funds from Venezuela’s late president, Hugo Chávez, and Brazil’s construction giant, Odebrecht. The money was used to support Humala’s election campaigns in 2006 and 2011.
Humala, now 62, has been taken to Barbadillo Prison in Lima. He becomes the latest former Peruvian leader to be jailed over the Odebrecht corruption scandal. Two other former presidents—Alejandro Toledo and Pedro Castillo—are already in the same prison.
Meanwhile, Nadine Heredia did not appear in court when the sentence was passed. Instead, she took shelter in the Brazilian embassy with one of their sons. She has now been granted asylum by Brazil and has left for Brasília, the capital.
Brazil’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that she arrived safely and would continue her journey to São Paulo. Peru’s government confirmed it would respect an international agreement that allows her and her son to leave the country.
According to prosecutors, the couple accepted $3 million from Odebrecht to fund Humala’s 2011 campaign. They also said Chávez gave them $200,000 to support the 2006 campaign.
Reacting to the court’s decision, Humala’s lawyer, Wilfredo Pedraza, said the sentence was “excessive” and confirmed that an appeal would be filed. “We believe this punishment is too harsh. We will challenge it,” he said.
The former president and his wife have always denied the charges. They claim they are being politically targeted.
Ollanta Humala first became popular in 2000 as an army officer who led a brief rebellion against then-president Alberto Fujimori. He later ran for president in 2006 and again in 2011, winning the second time with a more moderate message.
But during his term in office, social unrest and loss of political support weakened his administration. After he left office in 2016, investigations into Odebrecht’s bribery scandal began to expose payments to several leaders in Latin America.
Humala and Heredia were first detained in 2017 during the investigation but were later released. This new ruling marks the final judgment in their long-running legal battle.
