Costa Rican ex-president found guilty of corruption
Friday, 29 April 2011
SAN JOSE, Apr 28 (AFP): A Costa Rican court sentenced former president Miguel Angel Rodriguez to five years in prison Wednesday after finding him guilty of taking bribes from French telecoms giant Alcatel.
"Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria has been found to have been the main instigator of the crime of aggravated corruption ... and will receive a sentence of five years in prison," announced Rosaura Garcia, the lead criminal judge on the second circuit panel in San Jose. Rodriguez (71), a former head of the Organization of American States who resigned in 2004 when the scandal broke, also was barred from public office for 12 years, the court said.