A US federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Jose Maria Marin, the 86-year-old former head of the Brazilian football federation, to four years in prison over the massive FIFA corruption scandal that rocked the world’s most popular sport.
Marin — one of seven FIFA officials arrested at a luxury hotel in Zurich in May 2015 — was convicted of accepting bribes from sports marketing companies in exchange for contracts to broadcast major tournaments like the Copa America and the Copa Libertadores.
As reported by AFP, he was sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court by US Judge Pamela Chen.
The former South American soccer official was convicted on corruption charges in the sprawling FIFA bribery scandal
As reported by AP, Jose Maria Marin, a former president of Brazil’s soccer federation, also was ordered to forfeit $3.3 million and pay a $1.2 million fine in connection with his participation in a scheme to accept bribes in exchange for the media and marketing rights to various soccer tournaments, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
“His crime was one of pure, unmitigated and unchecked greed,” said Judge Pamela Chen, who said she wanted “to send a message of deterrence” in her sentence and described Marin as a rich man who could easily have said no to receiving bribes.
The government had asked for 10 years in prison for him. The defense had sought the approximately 13 months he has already served, citing the 86-year-old’s advanced age and poor health.
Before his sentencing in Brooklyn federal court, Marin told the judge that soccer had been his great love but that now it was his downfall.
“I regret if any person or entity has been harmed by my actions”, Marin said, before chocking up. “I am a man with no future. My main worry is my wife.”
More than 40 people and entities in the world of global soccer were charged in the U.S. in connection with an investigation that uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. Of those, 24 pleaded guilty. The former president of Peru’s soccer federation, Manuel Burga, was acquitted in December.
“Marin, like his co-conspirators, sold out the sport he was meant to serve to satisfy his own greed,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement. “Today’s sentence shows that for all their power and prestige, the soccer officials who corrupted ‘the beautiful game’ are not above the law.”
As reported by Inside the Games, Marin, found guilty of six counts of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy late last year, becomes the first official implicated in the sprawling United States Department of Justice investigation into widespread corruption at FIFA to be sentenced.
Former FIFA vice-president Juan Angel Napout, convicted along with Marin in December, will learn his fate at a later date.
Prosecutors were seeking a 10-year sentence for Marin, who reportedly wept as Chen read out his sentence.
Marin, who served as the head of the CBF for three years from March 2012 to April 2015, has already served 13 months in prison and could be released after 28 months for good behaviour, according to BuzzFeed.
The defence argued the time he had already spent in jail was enough, citing his advanced years and poor health.
Marin was one of the seven high-ranking FIFA officials arrested in dramatic dawn raids on the Baur Au Lac Hotel in Zurich in May 2015.
Attorneys for Jose Maria Marin gave a short statement outside of the courthouse following the verdict.
Marin pleaded not guilty in 2015 and was then released to house arrest before he was put on trial along with Paraguayan Napout last December.
A third official, Peru’s Manuel Burga – who caused controversy during the trial after he allegedly made a cut-throat gesture to a witness – was cleared by the jury.
Marin, a former Governor of São Paulo, and Napout were found guilty of accepting millions of dollars in bribes in connection with the sale of marketing and media rights to international matches.
The jury found Napout had accepted $10.5 million (£7.8 million/€8.8 million) in bribes and kickbacks between 2010 and 2016, while Marin was paid a total of $6.5 million (£4.8 million/€5.4 million).
The duo received the money in relation to tournaments including the Copa América and the Copa Libertadores, South America’s main club competition.
The investigation in the US has seen a total of 42 officials and entities indicted by the DoJ in a scandal which shook FIFA to its core and led to the departure of former President Sepp Blatter.
Napout, Marin and Burga are the only FIFA officials to have pleaded not guilty.
AFP/AP/Inside the Games
