Prosecutor asks 135 months jail for Martinelli sons

The New York prosecutor’s office requests a sentence of 108 months (9 years) to 135 months (11 years and 3 months) for Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, both confessed to having conspired to launder $28 million in bribes delivered by the Brazilian contractor Odebrecht, “for the benefit of a close family member and high-ranking Panamanian government official,” between August 2009 and September 2015.

This reports La Prensa, is stated in the notes sent to Judge Raymond J. Dearie, who on May 20 must sentence the two sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli. One 17-page note is dedicated to Ricardo Alberto and the other, 19, to Luis Enrique, although the content of both is similar, as they are accused of the same acts and the conditions of both are the same.

The prosecution says that the Probation Department recommended a higher sentence of 180 months (15 years) in prison, as well as a payment of $250,000 since no grounds were observed that could have “mitigated” the sentence.

In its recommendation to the judge, the prosecution took into account three factors: the seriousness of the charges; the little collaboration of the accused, and the escape carried out in June 2020, which was considered “an attempt to evade their responsibilities for the crimes committed.”

In this way, the prosecution strongly opposes the claim of Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique’s lawyers, who a week ago requested their release, considering that the 23 months that their clients have been preventively detained is the prison sentence that would correspond to them for having pleaded guilty to the crime of conspiracy to launder money, using the American banking system.

The prosecution points out that although the defendants allege that the 23 months of preventive detention are sufficient punishment, because – according to their lawyers – they played a “simple” role as intermediaries in receiving the money from Odebrecht, their participation was “essential for the commission of this crime and maintained criminal, systematic and strategic behavior for nearly six years.”

In addition to managing companies in different jurisdictions and opening bank accounts to launder $28 million in bribes for the benefit of a “senior Panamanian government official” the brothers worked as lobbyists for Odebrecht, used their contacts with ministers and high officials of the Panamanian government, and invested the money from the bribes for their own benefit and that of their families. Some of the funds were used to purchase “luxury” goods, such as a $1.7 million yacht and a $1.3 million condominium in, Miami. Likewise, they used $9.5 million to invest in a telephone service company, and other amounts to acquire bonds and shares.

Metro overpricing
Although the charge against them is for conspiring to launder $28 million in bribes from Odebrecht,  the prosecutor’s note mentions that the Brazilian company disbursed another $30 million, to bank accounts in euros, in favor of the sons of the former president.. The money was paid by the Department of Structured Operations, the office that managed the bribes of the construction company. In exchange, Odebrecht received public infrastructure contracts, awarded “with millions of dollars overpriced”

“It is clear that the co-defendants and the high-ranking official of the Panamanian government benefited from the scheme, at the expense of the Panamanian people,” the prosecution notes.

The brothers maintain that they collaborated with the US authorities starting in 2018, but the prosecution replies that this was nothing more than a ” facade “since, in the period in which they were supposed to collaborate, they systematically hid crucial information. “At the same time, they were planning to leave the country”, which they finally did in June 2020. Specifically, the note mentions that they got help from the Ministry of Health, to authorize the “humanitarian” flight that would bring them to Panama. By then, they had already posted bail to avoid being arrested in Panama and had even obtained diplomatic credentials from the Central American Parliament.

Private apartment 
Regarding the time they were detained at the military base in Guatemala, the note states that they were initially accommodated in a private apartment inside the prison and not in a “traditional” cell. The prosecution informs Judge Dearie that this apartment was arranged by the same interior designer who previously worked for Luis Enrique in the Brickell condo, as well as in a Miami mansion owned by the “senior Panamanian government official”,  The decorator brought Ikea furniture to Guatemala that was used in the apartment and remained there until July 2021, when the brothers were sent to a more secure area at the military base after an escape plan became known.