Martinelli Bros mark year in jail

On Tuesday, July 6 the two sons of former president Ricardo Martinelli marked one year behind bars in Guatemala.

Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares are detained in the  Mariscal Zavala military prison, following a  request for their capture and extradition to the United States to face money laundering charges.

On July 6, 2020, the brothers were surprised at La Aurora airport, as they were about to board a plane owned by the Martinelli family, on a supposed “humanitarian” flight. They carried four cell phones, cash, and diplomatic folders that accredited them as members of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), although later the body itself recognized) they had never been sworn in and had never held office. They told the police that they were parliamentarians and that they had Italian-Panamanian nationality.

Guatemala said that both had entered the country by land, with ordinary passports, on June 30 of that year, and immediately “surveillance and monitoring ” was activated. The formal arrest request had arrived from the US three days earlier. The arrest request came from the s country in which both had lived for the last five years, since they voluntarily left Panama, as several judicial investigations against them progressed, for the bribes of Odebrecht and Blue Apple.

Luis Enrique had left Panama on October 16, 2015. The date on which Ricardo Alberto left (who was also mentioned in the Buko Millonario case) is unknown.

It is not known what they were doing in the United States, but on November 20, 2018, they were detained at their mansion in Coral Gables, Miami, by immigration agents who then reported that, although they had entered the United States legally, they no longer had a valid visa. They spent 15 days in Krome, a migrant shelter located in the Everglades, from which they left after a judge from that jurisdiction granted them each with a bail of $1 million.

Near the mansion in Coral Gables, former President Martinelli l had been captured on June 12, 2017, by federal marshals, at the request of Panama’s wiretap Supreme Court), which then had the jurisdiction to prosecute him in the wiretap case. Martinelli was detained for 364 days before being handed over to Panama.

Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique have had a much more rugged stay in Guatemala than their father in the US reports La Prensa: last Thursday, the Guatemala Ministry of the Interior reported that it had reinforced security in Mariscal Zavala and carried out a search, after receiving an alert “about the possible escape attempt” of the Martinelli Linares, by United States intelligence units. At the military base, they found cell phones, chargers, antennas, sharp-pointed weapons, beers, bottles of liquor… Also, 9 minors, who had no reason to be there. For these events, the director of the prison was denounced.

The brothers’ stay at Mariscal Zavala has been colorful. The digital site Relato published a note last February, under the suggestive title “Of sex, liquor and privileges, this is the life of the Martinelli in the Guatemalan prison,” which leaves little room for interpretation. In the prison, both would be under the protection of Gustavo Alejos, private secretary in the presidency of Álvaro Colom. (Last week, Alejos and Colom were included in the US State Department List of characters linked to acts of corruption.

 “Because they are foreigners, they do not have political enemies or those of the country’s criminal structures, so their stay in a prison here does not mean that much risk and they could feel safe. The second important aspect is the vulnerability of the national prison system, where it is common to find underpaid guards who accept a bribe in exchange for letting in certain food, cell phones or anything that makes their stay in prison less pressing, “said Rony Ríos of the Guatemalan newspaper El Periódico.

The year they have spent in prison has been for the appeals filed to prevent extradition. The case of Ricardo Alberto is settled in the Third Court of Criminal Sentencing, Drug Trafficking and Environmental Crimes, and that of Luis Enrique in the Fifth Court.

Denis Cuesy is the lawyer and the strategy for each one has been similar: to challenge the judges on the grounds that they have no competence to settle their legal matters, given their alleged status as alternate deputies of Parlacen.

The Court of Appeals rejected the challenges, on more than one occasion. In June, Luis Enrique presented three more appeals against decisions adopted by the Fifth Court, which on May 25 ordered to process the delivery to the United States. Shortly before, he had been denied a request to transfer to a hospital, where he intended to stay, alleging heart problems. The National Institute of Forensic Sciences of Guatemala indicated that his state of health was stable and did not merit being admitted to a clinic.

Unlike his brother, Luis Enrique already went to a hearing to formally know the reasons why he is being claimed in the United States. The appointment was on March 5, although a month earlier, the Eastern District Court of New York released the accusation, which until then had been sealed. the former president’s children are accused of three charges: one, for allegedly conspiring to launder money, and two, for hiding information on money laundering. The indictment is based on events allegedly committed between August 2009 and September 2015, which coincides with his father’s entire presidential term.

Luis Enrique faces two additional charges, for the alleged use of money obtained through money laundering.

Just for the crime of conspiracy to launder, the penalty would be up to 20 years in prison. For the crime of hiding information, the maximum penalty is also 20 years in prison. The indictment warns that the assets linked to the charges (bank accounts, real estate) will be confiscated if the two defendants are convicted. Nothing is mentioned regarding the family plane but it has already been guarded on a runway in La Aurora, at the request of the United States Department of Commerce, for alleged export violations.

Although the FBI maintains that the two sons of the former president participated as “intermediaries” in the receipt and payment of bribes of  $28 million, “under the direction of Odebrecht,” these allegations are not in the indictment disclosed now.

It is difficult to know when the extradition will be, although the surrender appears imminent, given that Guatemala usually accepts requests from the United State says La Prensa.

“I don’t know of any case where the delivery was denied,” said Ríos, of El Periódico.

It has even done so when those required have been important figures, such as former Guatemalan president Alonso Portillo, extradited in 2013.