Former Peruvian President Toledo Convicted of Taking Bribes, Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

LIMA, Peru – Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was convicted of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison on Monday. The verdict represents Peru’s first high-profile conviction linked to Brazil’s sprawling Lava Jato corruption scandal.

Toledo, a 78-year-old economist who holds a doctorate from Stanford University, governed the Andean nation between 2001 and 2006. He was convicted of taking $35 million in bribes from the company formerly known as Odebrecht, according to prosecutors, in exchange for letting it win a contract to build the road that now connects Peru’s southern coast with an Amazonian area in western Brazil.

Throughout the year-long trial, Toledo denied the charges of money laundering and collusion.

Odebrecht, now rebranded as Novonor, was at the center of Latin America’s largest corruption scandal after admitting in 2016 to bribing officials in multiple countries to secure public works contracts. Last week, Toledo, who is battling cancer, requested that he be allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest.

Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo appears in court next to his lawyer Roberto Su for sentencing during his trial on charges of corruption related to the Brazilian company Odebrecht, in Lima, Peru, October 21, 2024.

“Please, let me heal or die at home,” Toledo pleaded to the court.

The sentencing took place in a specially arranged room inside a small Lima prison where Toledo has been held since last year. Former President Pedro Castillo is also imprisoned there while facing “rebellion” charges for attempting to dissolve Congress in 2022.

Two other former presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also under investigation in connection with the Odebrecht scandal.

Toledo, who famously shined shoes as a child, was arrested in the United States in 2019 after officials in Peru requested his extradition.

Prosecutors built their case on testimony from former Odebrecht executive Jorge Barata and Toledo’s former associate, Josef Maiman, who testified that Toledo had accepted bribes.

Although Toledo signed the contract with Odebrecht for the road construction, the actual building occurred during the two administrations that followed his presidency.