A former deputy minister of Justice, who served during ex-President Alan Garcia’s administration, has been sentenced to a five-year prison sentence for attempting to bribe a government official.
In February, Gerardo Castro was arrested when he offered to pay $10,000 to Alejandro Rios, an advisor of Peru’s deputy fishing minister, in an attempt to extend fishing licenses for three small vessels.
Rios informed his superiors and Production minister Jorge Villasante informed authorities of the incident. In total, five people were arrested in the case.
Castro’s trial was exceptionally brief —10 days— following nine months of investigation. In addition to the prison sentence, Castro has been ordered to pay 5,000 soles (approximately $1,850) in civil reparation, daily La Republica reported. Other people implicated in the bribery for fishing permits have not been included in the investigation, according to investigative journalist Raul Wiener.
Castro was appointed deputy justice minister in July 2009 and held the position until March 2010, under the term of ex-Justice minister Aurelio Pastor, who left office due to a scandal involving the pardon of former TV station owner Jose Enrique Crousillat. The former TV mogul was released from prison —serving a sentence for corruption involving the Fujimori regime and Vladimiro Montesinos— on grounds of dangerously ill health but was later found vacationing at his beach home.
A number of high ranking government officials from Garcia’s Aprista party are implicated in investigations into corruption during his term, from 2006 to 2011.
