Peru’s Former President Alejandro Toledo Sentenced to Over 20 Years for Corruption

LIMA, Peru — Former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison on Monday in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America due to its practice of paying millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others.

Authorities accused Toledo of receiving $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in Peru. The National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice in Lima imposed the sentence after years of legal proceedings, including a dispute over whether Toledo, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States.

Judge Inés Rojas stated that the victims of Toledo’s actions were the Peruvian people who “trusted” him as their president. She explained that in his role, Toledo was “in charge of managing public finances” and responsible for “protecting and ensuring the correct” use of resources. However, she asserted that he instead “defrauded the state.”

She added that Toledo “had the duty to act with absolute neutrality, protect and preserve the assets of the state, avoiding their abuse or exploitation,” but he failed to do so.

Odebrecht, responsible for constructing some of Latin America’s most crucial infrastructure projects, admitted to U.S. authorities in 2016 that it had secured government contracts across the region by offering substantial bribes. The investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice triggered probes in multiple countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, and Ecuador.

In Peru, authorities accused Toledo and three other former presidents of receiving payments from the construction giant. They alleged that Toledo received $35 million from Odebrecht in exchange for the contract to construct 650 kilometers (403 miles) of a highway linking Brazil with southern Peru. This portion of the highway was initially estimated to cost $507 million, but Peru ultimately paid $1.25 billion.

Rojas read parts of the testimony from former Odebrecht executive in Peru, Jorge Barata, who told prosecutors that Toledo contacted him up to three times after leaving office demanding payment. Toledo lowered his gaze and looked at his hands as Rojas read the expletive-laden remarks that Barata recounted to prosecutors.

Toledo has denied the accusations against him. His attorney, Roberto Siu, told reporters after the hearing that they would appeal the sentence.

The former president on Monday frequently smirked, and at times laughed, particularly when the judge mentioned multi-million-dollar sums central to the case as well as when she struggled to read transcripts and other evidence in the case. Throughout the hearing, he also leaned to his right to speak with his attorney.

In contrast, last week, he asked the court with a broken voice and his hands together, as if he were praying, to let him return home citing his age, cancer, and heart problems.

Toledo, 78, was first arrested in 2019 at his home in California, where he had been living since 2016, when he returned to Stanford University, his alma mater, as a visiting scholar to study education in Latin America. He was initially held in solitary confinement at a county jail east of San Francisco but was released to house arrest in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and his deteriorating mental health.

He was extradited to Peru in 2022 after a court of appeals denied a challenge to his extradition, and he surrendered to authorities. He has since remained under preventive detention.

Rojas stated that Toledo would receive credit for time served starting in April 2023. He will serve the remainder of his sentence at a prison on the outskirts of Lima that was built specifically to house former Peruvian presidents.

Prosecutor José Domingo Pérez after the hearing described the sentence as “historic” and said it demonstrates to Peruvians that “crimes and corruption are punished.”

Odebrecht rebranded as Novonor in 2020.

—Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.