Ecuador court orders 13 more years in prison for former VP Glas

An Ecuadorean court on Monday sentenced former vice president Jorge Glas to 13 additional years in prison for misusing public funds allocated to rebuild areas affected by a devastating 2016 earthquake.

Glas, 55, is currently in prison serving out convictions in two prior corruption cases and had been due for release in little under three years, but the latest sentence would extend his incarceration until 2041.

Carlos Bernal, a former official tasked with leading the reconstruction work in the western Manabi and Esmeraldas provinces, was also given 13 more years.

The court said it had applied the maximum possible sentence.

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The funds for the reconstruction had been raised through taxes, and a judge in the case said there were indications Glas committed embezzlement by using funds earmarked for reconstruction for other unrelated projects.

Glas' lawyer argued there was no evidence of misappropriation of public funds for personal benefit or that of third parties, nor harm to the national treasury, and said the case is being used as a tool of political persecution.

Glas, who served as vice president under Rafael Correa from 2013 to 2017, was captured by Ecuadorean authorities following a raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito last year, which led to the severing of diplomatic ties between Ecuador and Mexico.