Martinelli's sons will be released from US jail in January 2023

The brothers Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, sons of former President Ricardo Martinelli will be released on January 25, 2023, as revealed by the technical files of the two convicts from the United States Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons.

The Martinelli Linares pleaded guilty to having laundered $28 million that the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht paid in exchange for contracts with the Panamanian State. The money received by the brothers would have been intended to benefit “a close relative and high-ranking official” of the Panamanian government. Later, Ricardo Alberto and Luis Enrique confessed to Judge Raymond J. Dearie that they acted on the orders of their father.

On May 20, 2022, Judge Dearie, head of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, sentenced them to pay 36 months (3 years) in prison and two years of supervised release, and to pay a $250 thousand fine.