A Peruvian court has sentenced the country’s ex-President Ollanta Humala, and his wife, Nadine Heredia, to 15 years in prison over corruption on April 15, 2025.
The couple was found guilty of accepting illicit contributions from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht and the Venezuelan government during Humala’s 2006 and 2011 presidential campaigns.
Judge Nayko Coronado ordered that the former President and his wife be jailed immediately.
Humala, who attended the verdict hearing, was taken into custody immediately after the court ruling.
This conviction makes Humala the third former Peruvian president imprisoned for corruption related to Odebrecht, following Alejandro Toledo and Alberto Fujimori.
Peru Former President and Wife Jailed
However, Former President Humala’s wife did not attend the court case. Her lawyers stated that she was unwell and had been following the proceedings online.
The court’s ruling means Humala and the spouse will stay in prison until July 28, 2039.
After the verdict, Peru’s Foreign Minister stated that Heredia went into the Brazilian Embassy in Lima to ask for protection, and Brazil agreed to give asylum to her and her son.
The court also sentenced Ilan Heredia, who is the brother of the former president, to 12 years in prison for money laundering.
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Ollanta Humala Trial
The trial started in 2022, where the 62-year-old ex-army officer Humala and his wife Heredia, eight other people, were also found guilty.
Back in 2017 and 2018, Humala and Heredia were kept in custody before the trial began because prosecutors feared they might try to flee the country.
Both Humala and Heredia denied the charges brought against them.
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About Ollanta Humala
Humala is a former army officer and politician who served as Peru’s President between 2011 to 2016.
He once fought against the Maoist rebel group known as the Shining Path.
The former president first gained national attention in 2000 when he led a military uprising against then-President Alberto Fujimori.
He ran for president in 2006 and aligned himself with Venezuela’s former president Hugo Chavez.
Prosecutors later accused Humala of illegally receiving campaign funds from Chavez to support his presidential bid leading him to stop the campaigns.
In 2011, Humala made another bid for the presidency, this time presenting himself as a worthy candidate.
His legal troubles began soon after his term ended in 2016.
The same year Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht admitted to paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and political parties throughout Latin America to secure business contracts, putting him in the spotlight.
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