Two former South American football officials were convicted Friday of corruption charges at the first U.S. trial stemming from the FIFA bribery scandal, according to Tom Hays of the AP. José Maria Marin and Juan Ángel Napout were found guilty of the "top count they faced," racketeering conspiracy. Former Brazilian Football Confederation President Marin and Napout, the former president of the Paraguay Football Federation and CONMEBOL, also were convicted of wire fraud conspiracy. But Napout was acquitted of money laundering conspiracy. Marin was convicted on money laundering conspiracy charges, but acquitted of one charge of money laundering conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen immediately jailed Marin, 85, and Napout, 59, after prosecutors argued that they "had the connections and the wealth to flee the U.S. to avoid prison terms she said could be more than 10 years on the racketeering charge alone" (AP, 12/22). In N.Y., Rebecca Ruiz reported former Peru Football Federation President Manuel Burga was on Tuesday acquitted of racketeering conspiracy. He was accused of "having plotted to collect" $4.4M in bribes. Prosecutors acknowledged he "had not collected that money he solicited, unlike the officials with whom he stood trial" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/26).
