Judge Moro sentences Costa, Youssef, and six others to prison.

Pernambuco 247 - The Federal Court has convicted former Petrobras Supply Director Paulo Roberto Costa of money laundering and organized crime related to embezzlement during the construction of the Abreu e Lima Refinery in Pernambuco. He will have to serve seven years and six months in prison. The time Costa spent in custody at the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba will be deducted from his sentence.

Money launderer Alberto Youssef was also convicted in the same case. According to the indictment, "Alberto Youssef and Paulo Roberto were the leaders of the criminal group and were primarily responsible for laundering the embezzled funds. The others participated according to the various stages of the laundering," the indictment states.

Six other people, including Márcio Bonilho, the businessman from the Sanko Sider group, were convicted for their involvement in the scheme. The court also ordered the payment of fines and compensation to Petrobras, totaling R$ 18 million.

"Paulo Roberto Costa's prison sentence is limited to the period already served in pre-trial detention, held in the Federal Police jail, from March 20, 2014 to May 18, 2014 and from June 11, 2014 to September 30, 2014, and he must also serve one year of house arrest with an electronic ankle bracelet, starting on October 1, 2014, and another year starting on October 1, 2015, this time under house arrest on weekends and during the night," says the sentence issued by federal judge Sérgio Moro.

In October 2016, Costa is expected to move to a semi-open prison regime. The other convicts were Waldomiro de Oliveira, Leonardo Meirelles, Leandro Meirelles, Pedro Argese Júnior, and Esdra de Arantes Ferreira. Bonilho and Oliveira were each sentenced to 11 years and 6 months in a closed regime. Leonardo Meirelles will have to serve 5 years and 6 months, Leandro Meirelles 6 years and 8 months, Pedro Argese Júnior (4 years and 5 months), and Esdra de Arantes Ferreira (4 years and 5 months). 

Below is a news report from Agência Brasil about the convictions:

Money launderer and former Petrobras director convicted for embezzlement at Abreu e Lima refinery.

André Richter - Federal judge Sérgio Moro today (22) convicted former Petrobras Supply Director Paulo Roberto Costa and money launderer Alberto Youssef in the criminal case concerning the embezzlement in the construction of the Abreu e Lima Refinery, by Petrobras. The refinery is the main project investigated in Operation Lava Jato.

Costa received a sentence of seven years and six months in prison for money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. Youssef was sentenced to nine years and two months for money laundering. The conviction comes a year after the start of the proceedings. Six defendants accused of operating shell companies were also convicted. All can appeal to the second instance of the Federal Court.

In the ruling, Moro denied a request for judicial pardon made by the defendants' lawyers. Although they had made plea bargain agreements to expose the embezzlement scheme in contracts between construction companies and Petrobras, the judge ruled that pardon could not be granted due to the seriousness of the crimes.

"However, judicial pardon, as requested, is not applicable. The effectiveness of the collaboration is not the only element to be considered. In this respect, considering the specific gravity of the crimes committed and the high reprehensibility of their conduct, judicial pardon is not applicable," the judge ruled.

Despite not granting a pardon, Moro maintained the benefits granted to the former director in the plea bargain agreement. Costa has been under house arrest since last year and will remain in the same situation until October, when he is expected to move to a semi-open regime.

"Although the agreement mentions imprisonment under a semi-open regime starting October 1st, I consider nighttime and weekend confinement with an electronic ankle bracelet more appropriate, due to security concerns arising from cooperation and the difficulty that would arise in protecting the convict during confinement in a semi-open penal establishment," said Moro.

In Youssef's case, the money launderer will serve three years in a closed regime prison, even if convicted in the other criminal cases he faces in court stemming from Lava Jato. After that period, he will be transferred to an open regime prison. He has been in prison since last year. The time served will be deducted from his sentence.

The ruling established that the embezzlement occurred through transfers from the Camargo Corrêa National Consortium, responsible for the refinery's construction, to six shell companies controlled by money launderer Alberto Youssef. According to the judge, there were hundreds of transactions involving the overpricing of goods and the simulation of services rendered, totaling R$ 18,6 million.

"The money laundering operation, preceded by crimes of embezzlement, aimed to facilitate the payment of undue advantage, that is, to enable the commission of a corruption crime, and the aggravating circumstance should be recognized. I note that, under the circumstances of the case, it is not inherent to the crime of money laundering, since the dirty money, originating from other crimes, served to execute a corruption crime," said the judge.

In their defense, Paulo Roberto Costa's lawyers argued that the accused was fulfilling requirements imposed by the party that nominated him for the position, the PP, and that he regretted the crimes. Youssef's defense argued that he was not the head of the criminal scheme that "served political financing and a power project."

According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the unfinished construction of the Abreu e Lima Refinery was budgeted at R$ 2,5 billion, but more than R$ 20 billion has been paid so far.