HomeNewsBriefImprisoned Guatemala Ex-President Rejected US Plea Deal in 2010
BRIEF

Imprisoned Guatemala Ex-President Rejected US Plea Deal in 2010

ELITES AND CRIME / 4 APR 2014 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

Declassified US State Department cables document how Alfonso Portillo, the former president of Guatemala who recently pled guilty to money-laundering charges in New York, refused a plea deal following his arrest to chance his arm in the corrupt Guatemalan justice system.

Hours after Portillo's arrest in January 2010, Stephen McFarland, then US Ambassador to Guatemala, met with Carlos Castresana, head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), to discuss the arrest of Portillo and the offers made to him to accelerate the judicial process, reported Plaza Publica.

A cable sent to the Department of State in Washington (pdf) says Portillo had been presented a choice: He could accept a reduced sentence in Guatemala for his embezzlement of state funds during his presidency, return the 3 million Euros discovered in his family's European bank accounts, and be extradited to the US to face money-laundering charges. Or, he could remain in detention in Guatemala City's dangerous Zone 18 Prison while he contested criminal charges and extradition.

According to Castresana, Portillo immediately rejected voluntary extradition to the US, saying he would make his case in Guatemala.

Four other declassified cables also clearly show how the US Embassy was intimately involved with the legal case against Portillo and the work of CICIG, reported Plaza Publica. One cable (pdf), however, said this had implications for Embassy security, as Portillo was accusing McFarland of conspiring against him as retribution for not having supported the Iraq war.

Adding to these concerns, the cable refers to an incident in March 2010, when an anonymous caller claimed to have control over the three judges hearing the case of the US extradition request, and that he would kill their families if the case was not suspended. However, the judges verified their families were safe and the hearing continued.

InSight Crime Analysis

Despite the strong evidence against him, Portillo was acquitted in May 2011 of stealing $15 million of state funds during his presidency. It would be another two years before he was finally extradited to the US, where he recently pleaded guilty to charges of accepting bribes and money laundering.

Portillo's decision not to immediately accept a plea reflects the inefficiency and corruption in Guatemala's justice system. Portillo opted to try his luck in Guatemala, and the decision proved the right one -- he won his case.

SEE ALSO: Guatemala News and Profiles

However, he is not taking the same chances in the US, pleading guilty after more than likely cooperating with authorities and reaching a deal with prosecutors.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 31 JAN 2023

Haiti's security crisis is about to see another major evolution as gangs look to become the de facto authority in…

CACHIROS / 21 APR 2022

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández has been extradited to the United States, drawing to a close a shocking saga…

BRAZIL / 17 AUG 2021

João Soares Rocha, 64, has been identified by the Brazilian police as the ringleader of an international cocaine trafficking network.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…