The First High Risk Chamber welcomes defective procedural activity presented by the defense of the former Minister of Communications, José Luis Benito, once morest the sentence that was handed down by this chamber on April 11, 2024, judicial sources reported this Tuesday, April 23.
The resolution of the Chamber modifies the sentence once morest Benito to 6 years in prison with a 50 percent reduction in the sentence for having availed himself of the benefit of acceptance of charges, remaining at three years with payment of the sentence for the prison already suffered and commutable. for the rest of the time.
The Chamber also accepted the Partial Appeal appeal filed by the Special Prosecutor’s Office once morest Impunity (Feci) of the Public Ministry (MP) and modified the crime from “Conspiracy to Launder money and other assets” to “Money Laundering and other Assets”. ”.
Furthermore, the Chamber indicated that it was established within the procedural records analyzed that there is criminal co-participation on the part of José Ernesto Batres González in the Q122 million that were seized.
Furthermore, it states that the residence where the money was located belongs to Batres González, which is why it orders the MP to initiate legal actions for his prosecution, certifying him accordingly.
On April 16, it was reported that the First Chamber of the Court of Appeals increased the sentence once morest Benito for the Q122 million case.
In principle, the High Risk Court D handed down a six-year sentence once morest Benito for the crime of conspiracy to commit the crime of laundering money or other assets, but since the former official adhered to the procedure for accepting charges, the sentence was reduced to two years, so the Public Ministry (MP) appealed the ruling.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, by resorting to the procedure of acceptance of charges, the jurisdiction reduced the sentence to 2 years of commutable prison and imposed a fine of Q1 million 600 thousand; Furthermore, it details that, at the request of the Attorney General’s Office (PGN), he was ordered to pay decent reparation consisting of Q220 thousand.
Furthermore, the Court indicated that it was established within the procedural records analyzed that there is no lease contract for the house and there is criminal co-participation on the part of José Ernesto Batres González in the money that was seized and indicates that the related residence belongs to said person. . Orders the Public Ministry to initiate the necessary legal actions for his prosecution, certifying what is appropriate.
What happened with the money?
After the raid carried out in Antigua Guatemala that left the location of Q122 million, the money faced a process of forfeiture of ownership, which ended up leaving the millionaire sum to the public administration.
No person or entity appeared before the specialized court to claim the money, so it was delivered to the State and finally Q121.6 million were distributed among different institutions, according to data from the National Secretariat of Assets in Forfeiture (Senabed). .
Judicial Agency: Q30,407,577.03
Public Ministry: Q32,434,748.84
Ministry of the Interior: Q30,002,142.57
Ministry of Defense: Q8,108,687.21
Attorney General’s Office: Q 2,432,606.16
Senabed: Q18,244,546.22
#High #Risk #Chamber #rectifies #sentence #Minister #Communications #José #Luis #Benito
