New York: The former chief of the Guatemala National Football Federation (GNFF), Brayan Jimenez, who was convicted for extortion and fraud in connection with the ‘FifaGate’ scandal, was sentenced to time served and fined $350,000.
US District Judge Pamela Chen authorised Jimenez – who presided over GNFF between December 2009 and May 2015 – to take back his passport and return to his country, court documents showed.
A court spokeswoman and Jimenez’s lawyer Justine Harris added he would have to pay a fine of $350,000. He will remain on probation for two years.
Jimenez had spent more than 20 days in a Guatemalan jail, following his arrest in Guatemala City in early 2016, before being extradited to the United States, according to a spokesman for the Brooklyn federal prosecutor.
He received a reduced sentence after pleading guilty in July 2016 to conspiracy to extort and to fraud, in connection with bribes received in exchange for granting media rights and marketing on qualifying matches of Guatemala’s team for the 2018 and 2022 Football World Cups.
In April 2017, he was banned for life from any football-related activity by FIFA’s Ethics Commission.
A hearing scheduled for April 2, which Jimenez is not required to attend, will fix the amount of money to be reimbursed to organisations or persons aggrieved by his actions.
AFP