Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo Pleads Guilty Of Bribery Conspiracy In New York Court

AFP reports that Alfonso Portillo, the president of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in a New York court to charges of having accepted $2.5 million in bribes from Taiwanese officials in exchange for diplomatic recognition. Almost a year after being extradited from Guatemala to face indictment in the US on money laundering charges, the 62-year-old Portillo is expected to face 4-6 years in prison and a fine of $10,000-$500,000 after he agreed to repay the original $2.5 million.

Portillo, the first former Latin American head of state to be extradited to the United States, admitted to having conspired with Guatemalan bankers and other people to transfer that sum of money to banks in Miami and Washington as well as in Europe, according to Reforma. Extradited in May 2013 after being arrested in January 2010 during an attempt to flee the country for Belize, he was originally charged with laundering $70 million in government money – including funds intended for schoolchildren, according to Reuters. He initially pleaded not guilty to that charge.

Reuters reports that Portillo told the court on Tuesday that he had received five checks for $500,000 from the Taiwanese government – with which only 22 countries have diplomatic relations, as China claims the country is part of it and as such as no right to diplomatic recognition – between December 1999 through 2002. "I knew at the time that what I was doing was wrong, and I apologize for my crimes, take responsibility for them, and accept the consequences of my actions," Portillo said.