Judge rejects  $3 million “drop in the ocean” bail bid

A US federal judge rejected a  $3-5 million bail proposal for Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares, who pleaded “not guilty” to the money laundering offenses in the Eastern District Court of New York on  Tuesday, November 16

Judge Marcia M. Henry, conducted an arraignment hearing after the extradition from Guatemala, of the son of former President Ricardo Martinelli who heard the five charges contained in the accusation filed against him on February 6, 2021.

The judge rejected the defense proposal to post a bond of $3 million or $5 million, as she considered it “is like a drop in the ocean”, and was in favor of the position of the prosecution to keep the accused under arrest while the process develops but she agreed to consider another offer from the defense during a new hearing, on December 14.

Martinelli Linares’ attorney, James G. McGovern, said he negotiates a plea deal under the presumption that his client could be recognized as part of the sentence for the 16 months he spent in a Guatemalan prison until extradition on Monday. He added that with the prosecution he had discussed a possible sentence of 20 months of which he would serve four.

Before the hearing was a letter from McGovern, lawyer for the brothers Luis Enrique and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Linares, was presented to the judge, in which he announced the intention of his clients to plead guilty to the crime of conspiracy to launder money, as well as to deliver $19 million and assets related to the Odebrecht case 

McGovern delivered the note to the court on November 15, the same day that Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares arrived in New York from Guatemala.

In the document, McGovern states that “the forfeited assets include a considerable amount of funds held in Swiss banks that would have been exceptionally difficult to recover without the agreement of the Martinelli brothers to plead guilty and take affirmative action to facilitate access by the United States. to these funds ”.

The attorney stated said his clients “in anticipation of a possible plea deal, gave their separate consent for the release and transfer of almost $1.7 million in funds to the United States Government more than three months ago.”

It cites the seizure that the prosecutor Breon Peace ordered on November 1, “of a total of $1,697 478, from the accounts of the brothers.

The McGovern letter – asks Henry to set a bond on Luis Enrique, at the same time that he proposed “a personal recognition bonus of $3 million, guaranteed by $1million from Mr. Martinelli.”

McGovern mentioned that, in 2018, the Martinelli Linares sought a plea deal, but made the “mistake” of fleeing to try to reach Panama, where they are accused of alleged money laundering in several bribery cases, including Odebrecht a case in which their father is also prosecuted.