Two former South American soccer officials were convicted on Friday of corruption charges at the first US trial stemming from the FIFA bribery scandal, while deliberations are to continue next week for a third official.
A federal jury in New York deliberated for a week before reaching the partial verdict.
Jose Maria Marin and Juan Angel Napout, were found guilty of the top count they faced, racketeering conspiracy.
Photo: EPA
Marin, the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, and Napout, formerly president of the Paraguayan Football Association and of the South American Football Confederation, also were convicted of wire fraud conspiracy.
However, Napout was acquitted of money laundering conspiracy, and Marin was convicted on money laundering conspiracy charges, but acquitted of one charge of money laundering conspiracy.
Jurors remained undecided about the single racketeering charge against Manuel Burga, the former president of the Peruvian Football Federation.
US District Judge Pamela Chen immediately jailed Marin, 85, and Napout, 59, after prosecutors said that they had the connections and the wealth to flee the US to avoid prison terms, which she said could be more than 10 years on the racketeering charge alone.
Afterward, their lawyers said they were disappointed by the verdict.
“We’re going to continue fighting to absolve Mr Napout,” defense attorney Silvia Pinera said.
Burga, 60, remained free on bail and is to return to court on Tuesday for further jury deliberations. His lawyer Bruce Udolf said his client was hopeful that the jury would clear him.
FIFA said it would seek compensation and a share of the cash.
“As the jury has found a number of defendants guilty of the charged crimes, FIFA will now take all necessary steps to seek restitution and recover any losses caused by their misconduct,” the soccer association said.
Marin, Burga and Napout had been arrested in 2015.
Prosecutors accused them of agreeing to take millions of US dollars in bribes from businessmen seeking to lock up lucrative media rights or influence hosting rights for the World Cup and other major tournaments controlled by FIFA.
The three were among more than 40 people and entities in world soccer who faced criminal charges in the US in connection with what prosecutors said were schemes involving hundreds of millions of US dollars in bribes and kickbacks.
Many of the other defendants pleaded guilty.
Their trial ended up being colored by odd twists: An unproven accusation that Burga threatened a witness; a juror booted for sleeping through testimony; word from Buenos Aires that an Argentine lawyer had killed himself there hours after being named at the trial as a bribe-taker; and the surprise testimony of a former member of the Jonas Brothers, a US pop rock band.
The US government’s star witness, former marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco, testified that he and his company arranged to pay US$160 million in bribes over the course of several years.
Some of the money was demanded by a FIFA official in exchange for helping rig a vote that gave Qatar hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup, he said.
“You’ve seen a lot of paper, some of it quite complex,” Nitze said in closing arguments. “There are cases that present mysteries to be solved — whodunits. This is not one of them.”
Prosecutors said that driven by greed, Burga took US$4.4 million in bribes, Marin took US$6.6 million and Napout collected US$10.5 million.
The defense said that the men were innocent bystanders framed by Burzaco and other untrustworthy cooperators angling for leniency in their own cases.
Napout’s lawyer told jurors the prosecution had failed to produce records of wire transfers or large bank deposits that could prove he was receiving piles of bribe money.
“They say cash is king, but where did it go?” attorney John Pappalardo said. “There was not one penny they could trace to Juan.”
Marin’s lawyer called his client a clueless figurehead, saying the person making the real decisions was Brazilian Football Confederation President Marco Polo del Nero.
Del Nero is charged in the US case but has not been extradited from Brazil.
FIFA suspended him from the sport on Friday.
Burga’s lawyers zeroed in on evidence that ledgers by sports-marketing officials showed he had not received the cash.
Prosecutors said Burga, aware he was under investigation in Peru, told bribe-payers to hold onto his money and pay him later.
One witness described that listed bribes for Napout, including an entry for Paul McCartney concert tickets worth more than US$10,000.
After the defense questioned whether the concert actually took place, the government called Kevin Jonas to testify that he attended the show as a spectator.
Another cooperator, Brazilian businessman Jose Hawilla, agreed to wear a wire for the FBI to make recordings played at the trial.
One included a conversation he had with Marin in 2014 in which prosecutors said the defendant negotiated a bribe by saying: “It’s about time to have it coming my way. True or not?”
Hawilla responded: “Of course. That money had to be given to you.”
Burga got some unwanted attention early in the trial when prosecutors claimed he unnerved Burzaco by directing a threatening gesture at him — running his fingers across his throat in a slicing motion.
The lawyer claimed his client was merely scratching his throat, but the judge took the incident seriously enough to tighten Burga’s house arrest conditions.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was