Lava Jato Prosecutors Petition Court to Grant Work Release Regime for Lula

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Lula has been imprisoned since April last year in the Federal Police Superintendency (PF) prison, in the state capital of Paraná, as a result of his conviction in the Triplex case in Guarujá (SP).

According to Lava Jato prosecutors, Lula has already served one-sixth of his sentence and should progress to a milder regime, as determined by criminal law. In work release programs, the detainee leaves the penitentiary during the day to work, but must return at night.

The application will be examined by the 12th Federal District Court in Curitiba.

“Once good behavior in prison (subjective requirement) has been confirmed by the Superintendent of the Federal Police in Paraná and the defense has been heard (formal requirement), the Federal Prosecutor’s Office is required to grant Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the progression into the work release regime,” the MPF said.

Conviction

Lula was convicted on charges of receiving a triplex apartment in Guarujá from OAS Construction Company, as well as for concealing ownership of the property. The total undue advantages received, according to the indictment, totaled R$3.7 million (US$925 thousand), including spending on renovations. The former president was convicted for corruption and money laundering crimes.

In the initial sentence, handed down in July 2017, Lula was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison by judge Sérgio Moro, who treated the advantages received as related to corruption at Petrobras.

In January of last year, the conviction was confirmed and the sentence increased by the 4th Region Appeals Court (TRF4), to 12 years and one month in prison – eight years and four months for the crime of passive corruption and three years and nine months for money laundering.

In April this year, the penalty was reduced by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Brazil’s second-highest court, to five years and six months, while the penalty for money laundering was three years and four months, resulting in the final eight years and ten months.

Source: Agência Brasil

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