A Brazilian federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Jose Dirceu, a former presidential chief of staff, to 23 years and three months in prison for his role in a massive corruption scheme centered on state-controlled oil company Petrobras.
Judge Sergio Moro, who is spearheading the bribes-for-inflated contracts probe, found Dirceu guilty of accepting and paying bribes and money laundering.
Dirceu was former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's chief of staff from 2003 to 2005 before being forced to step down over a congressional vote-buying scheme.
In 2012, Brazil's Supreme Court sentenced him to nearly 11 years in prison in that case.
The latest sentence handed down against Dirceu is the stiffest thus far in the sprawling Petrobras probe, which has ensnared around 50 politicians from across the ideological spectrum and top executives from a score of private-sector firms .... http://latino.foxnews.com
