Martinelli brothers  claim they have served their sentence

The lawyers of Ricardo Alberto (Rica) and Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares requested their release from a federal judge in New York, considering that they have already served their sentence for having conspired to launder $28 million in bribes from the construction company Odebrecht.

In separate notes addressed Friday, April 29, to the Court of the Eastern District of New York, the lawyers of the children of former President Ricardo Martinelli explain to Judge Raymond Dearie that their clients have spent 23 months in prison: 17 months in a military base in Guatemala and five in the Brooklyn detention center. They consider that 23 months are “enough” and, request recognition that they have already served their sentence, after both admitted their participation in the Odebrecht bribery scheme, for “the benefit of a high-ranking official of the government of Panama”.

When Judge Dearie holds the sentencing hearing on May 20, the Martinelli brothers will have spent 638 days in prison, taking into account that they were captured on July 6, 2020, in Guatemala.

Last December, when they pleaded guilty, the judge warned them that the sentence (which cannot be appealed) would not exceed 151 months in prison

Defense attorneys maintain that the brothers had a minor role in the bribery-laundering scheme and that they still face similar charges for these same acts in Panama. In addition, they allege that José Grubisich, the CEO of the petrochemical company Braskem, a subsidiary of Odebrecht, received a 20-month prison sentence for having distributed $250 million in bribes, an amount substantially higher than the amount laundered by the Martinelli Linares.

Tense relationship
In the notes to Judge Dearie, the lawyers refer to former President Martinelli and describe what his relationship with his children was like. Sean Hecker, attorney for Rica Martinelli, wrote that his client had a “tense and distant” relationship with her father, a powerful businessman in whose shadow he grew up with a sense of shame for not meeting his expectations.
James McGovern, Luis Enrique’s defender, describes him as a workaholic who was not always present in his children’s lives, but when he was, he exercised control and authority and was indisputably the one who made the decisions.

“His orders and instructions were always followed,” McGovern wrote, and this dynamic continued even when the children were adults. He assures that Luis Enrique constantly sought the approval of his father since he was “the model to follow.”

In the letter, Hecker admits that the Odebrecht bribery began as soon as the father won the presidential election in May 2009. He said that the brothers were asked to serve as “intermediaries” for the payments that the construction company would make to a “close relative”, also described as a “dominant” member in the family network. The bribes were paid between 2009 and 2012, but laundering extended until 2015.

No one has publicly said the name of that “close relative” , but Luis Enrique’s lawyer maintains that he is a ” person, whose orders he has followed all his life”. Rica’s lawyer calls him “a master of manipulation” and a “shrewd political operator.”

Luis Enrique -according to his lawyer- initially thought that the transactions were “legitimate”, although he knew that these monies were related to the “business” that the “senior official” had agreed with Odebrecht. “It was not until 2010 that he and his brother understood that the financial transactions they were carrying  out were related to the payment of bribes.”

FBI meetings
The lawyers also state that their clients have been meeting with US agents since 2018, seeking a collaboration agreement. In November of that year, they were detained by immigration agents and were about to be extradited to Panama.

However, they were released on bail, decided to remain in the United States, and continued meetings with officials from the Department of Justice and the FBI.

Everything changed with the Covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020. For fear of being detained again by immigration agents and expelled from the country, they made the “mistake” of leaving the United States, with the intention of reaching Panama to face the accusation for the Odebrecht bribes.

The brothers could not reach Panama and were captured in Guatemala on July 6, 2020. Both filed all kinds of appeals and alleged diplomatic immunity, to prevent extradition.

However, Judge Dearie is told that, while they were in a Guatemalan military prison, they maintained a commitment to collaborate with the US authorities and voluntarily requested extradition says La Prensa.

In the Brooklyn detention center, they say that the conditions are “deplorable”, and “inhuman”, and that they have remained in solitary confinement most of the time, due to the pandemic.