Peru: Vladimir Cerrón sentenced to four years in prison

Peruvian Justice has sentenced this Tuesday a four-year prison term against the secretary general of Peru Libre party, Vladimir Cerrón, for the commission of a crime of collusion to the detriment of the State, as reported by RPP radio station.

The leader of the party to which former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo once belonged allowed the construction of a second airfield in the region, in the city of Orcotuna, when there was already another airport a few kilometers away.

According to the court of first instance that sentenced Cerrón, the project had no justification for being carried out.

The court has accepted the thesis of the country’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, a body that opened an investigation against the leader of Peru Libre because, in 2014, that he signed a contract for the construction of the airfield without considering the pronouncement of the General Directorate of Investment Policy (DGPI) of the Ministry of Economy, which was against it, reported RPP.

However, a higher court must now ratify the conviction for Cerrón to be definitively transferred to prison.

For Cerrón and five other officials involved, the resolution also includes a disqualification from holding public office for four years and a fine of US$525,900.

Cerrón also faces an investigation for corruption, money laundering, or terrorism, among other alleged crimes, for which the Public Prosecutor’s Office requests up to three years in prison.

With information from LGI

More: Peru news in English, every day from The Rio Times.