According to his lawyer, former Guatemalan President Otto Perez, who has been in prison since 2015 for a corruption conviction, has moved to house arrest, as reported by Reuters from Guatemala City on Thursday.
Otto Perez, a retired general, served as president of Guatemala from 2012 to 2015. He was forced to resign with just four months left in his term in the midst of protests over corruption scandals.
His lawyer, Cesar Calderon, told Reuters that the ex-president was released from prison on Wednesday evening and is happy to have the opportunity to be with his family after eight years.
In order to move from prison to house arrest, Perez had to pay a $38,000 bond and put up two properties worth $1.2 million as collateral, according to Calderon.
At the end of 2022, Perez was sentenced to 16 years in prison for illicit association and customs fraud. He and his Vice President Roxana Baldetti, who is still in prison, were accused of leading a customs fraud network that stole about $3.5 million in state funds during their administration.
The case, known as “La Linea,” was originally investigated under the now-defunct International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), backed by the United Nations.
Last year, Perez was sentenced to another eight years in prison on charges of money laundering and fraud in a separate case.
According to Guatemalan law, Perez was allowed to move to house arrest after serving half of his sentence due to good behavior and the payment of the fine.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sandra Maler)
