El Salvador Ex-President, Saca Bags Two Years Jail Term

For attempting to bribe a court employee with 10,000 dollars in a bid to obtain information about a case against him, ex-President of El Salvador, Antonio Saca has been sentenced to two years in prison.

According to the attorney general’s office, Saca, who served as president from 2004 to 2009, confessed to having committed the crime attributed to him.

The former president is already serving a 10-year sentence for misuse of some 300 million dollars of public funds and money laundering.

Five years of the sentence were for money laundering and another five for embezzlement.

He would also give back $260m to the state.      

The anti-corruption prosecutor told journalists outside court that a judge is yet to decide how Saca will serve the additional two years.

Saca was sentenced “during an abbreviated trial”.

A court official said Saca “negotiated” an abbreviated trial with prosecutors, agreeing to confess to a bribery offence in exchange for a shorter period in prison.