A Brazilian appeals court has reduced leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s 12-year sentence for bribery and money laundering.
In a unanimous decision, the four judges on the Superior Court of Justice panel hearing Lula’s appeal agreed to uphold his conviction, but cut the sentence to eight years and 10 months.
The ruling, broadcast live on the court’s YouTube channel, could mean Lula is eligible for “semi-open” prison later this year.
The 73-year-old leftist icon, who has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars in two separate corruption cases, marked his first year in jail earlier this month. The judges also reduced fines imposed on the former president from 29 million reais ($7.4 million) to 2.4 million ($615,000), the estimated price of the triplex.
They also reduced a fine of 175 days where each “day” demands a payment of five times the minimum wage to 50. Lula was originally sentenced to nine and a half years on charges that he accepted a seaside apartment as a bribe for helping the OAS construction company during his 2003-2010 presidency to get lucrative deals with state oil firm Petrobras.