FIFA trial: Ex-official acquitted days after 2 others convicted
NEW YORK -- A former South American soccer official has been acquitted of corruption charges at a U.S. trial stemming from the FIFA bribery scandal, after two others were convicted last week.
The jury on Friday had said it was deadlocked on the single racketeering conspiracy charge against Manuel Burga, of Peru. The judge sent them home for the holiday weekend. Jurors reached a not-guilty verdict Tuesday shortly after deliberations resumed.
Jose Maria Marin, of Brazil, and Juan Angel Napout, of Paraguay, were convicted Friday on most charges but acquitted on some lesser charges. The three had been arrested in 2015.
Prosecutors accused them of agreeing to take millions of dollars in bribes from marketing firms seeking commercial rights to big soccer tournaments.
The judge immediately jailed Marin, 85, and Napout, 59, on Friday, agreeing with prosecutors that if left free, the men had enough connections and wealth to flee the U.S. to avoid prison terms, which she said could be more than 10 years on the top charge alone.
Marin, Burga and Napout had been arrested in 2015. Prosecutors accused them of agreeing to take millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen seeking to lock up lucrative media rights or influence hosting rights for the World Cup and other major tournaments controlled by FIFA.
The three were among more than 40 people and entities in the world of global soccer charged in the U.S. in connection with an investigation that uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. Many of the other defendants pleaded guilty.
During the trial, the defense argued that the men were innocent bystanders framed by untrustworthy cooperators angling for leniency in their own cases. Burga's lawyer claimed there was no proof he took bribes.
"I would submit to you that never has more been made of less evidence," Udolf said.
Burga got some unwanted attention early in the trial when prosecutors claimed he unnerved the government's star witness, a former marketing executive from Argentina, Alejandro Burzaco, by directing a threatening gesture at him -- running his fingers across his throat in a slicing motion. The lawyer claimed his client was merely scratching his throat, but the judge took the incident seriously enough to tighten Burga's house arrest conditions.
