Peru's former president sentenced to 20 and a half years in prison for 'bribe scandal'

Peru's former president, who was recently tried over a bribery scandal involving a Brazilian construction company that shook Latin America, has been sentenced to heavy punishment.

Peru's second criminal court in Lima sentenced former President Alejandro Toledo to 20 and a half years in prison on charges of conspiracy and money laundering on Monday local time.

In a sentencing hearing broadcast live on Peru's Supreme Court social media channel, the judge ruled that "the prosecution is found guilty of the defendant obscuring the flow of large amounts of money with Brazilian construction giant businessmen."

Toledo, who has been in power for five years since 2001, is one of the key suspects in the so-called "Odebresse scandal" that roiled Latin America years ago.

Former President Toledo received $35 million and 48.2 billion won worth of our money from Brazilian construction company Odebretsi in exchange for supporting the construction of the Interoséannica Sur Expressway, prosecutors found, and was involved in falsely decorating the asset acquisition.

Former President Toledo went into hiding to escape a siege by Peruvian law enforcement.He was arrested in the U.S. in July 2019, and was sent to Peru in April last year after undergoing extradition procedures.

Peru's court said his sentence expires in October 2043, retroactive to the date of Toledo's imprisonment.