GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Former Guatemalan President Otto Perez entered house arrest after being imprisoned since 2015 on a corruption conviction, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Perez, a retired general, governed the Central American nation from 2012 until 2015, when he was forced to resign with just four months left in his term amid protests over graft scandals.
The ex-president left prison on Wednesday evening, his lawyer, Cesar Calderon, told Reuters. “He left happy to be able to be with his family after eight years,” Calderon said.
To leave prison and enter house arrest, Perez had to pay a $38,000 bond and put up two properties worth $1.2 million as collateral, Calderon said.
In late 2022, Perez was sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of illicit association and customs fraud. Alongside his Vice President Roxana Baldetti, who remains imprisoned, Perez was accused of leading a customs fraud network that stole some $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.
Perez was sentenced to another eight years in prison last year on money laundering and fraud charges in a separate case.
Under Guatemalan law, Perez was allowed to enter house arrest after serving half of his sentence on good behavior and payment of the fine.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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