Ex-Brazil supremo Marin freed early from US jail on health grounds
KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTS: Jose Maria Marin, the former Brazilian confederation president jailed in the FIFAGate corruption scandal, is being released early from prison thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Marin, now 87, should be released from Allenwood prison in Pennsylvania now on health grounds, according to Judge Pamela Chen in response to an emergency request from his lawyers.
She acceded on grounds of his “advanced age of 87, significant deterioration in health, high risk of serious health consequences due to the current Covid-19 epidemic, non-violent offender status and completion of application of 80pc of his initial sentence.”
Jails in the United States are reporting an accelerating number of of coronavirus cases and thousands of prisoners are being released early to try to contain the spread.
Marin was jailed in December 2017 in New York for four years for bribery and corruption in the US justice authorities’ prosecution of the FIFAGate scandal incriminating more than 40 senior football and marketing executives and several companies. He was also fined $1.2m and ordered to pay $3.3m in damages.
He had succeeded controversial Ricardo Teixeira as president of the CBF and as a member of the executive committees of world governing body FIFA and South American confederation CONMEBOL.
Marin is expected to fly home shortly to Brazil which he last saw in May 2015 when he flew to Zurich for FIFA Congress. On the eve of congress he was arrested along with six other senior football officials at the Baur au Lac Hotel on a US extradition warrant.
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+++xxx José Maria Marin released from prison in the US for coronavirus riskAt 87, a former CBF president claimed health problems and advanced age and was released more than a year in advanceBy The Newsroom – Updated on 30 Mar 2020, 20h05 – Published on 30 Mar 2020, 19h27The trial of former CBF president José Maria MarinFormer governor of São Paulo and former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, José Maria Marin , 87, was granted his freedom on Monday, 30, alleging the risk of being infected with coronavirus in the prison where he was in Allenwood , in the state of Pennsylvania, in the United States, where at least one case of Covid-19 has already been registered.According to information on the American website Bloomberg, District Judge Pamela Chen of the Brooklyn federal court responded to Marin’s lawyers, who filed an emergency request last weekend citing the client’s medical history and advanced age.Marin is expected to be released in the next few days and return to Brazil, where he has not stepped for nearly five years, since he was arrested at a hotel in Switzerland and extradited to the United States, amid the corruption scandal at FIFA in May 2015.With that, Marin will be able to anticipate his release from prison by more than a year. The former manager was sentenced in December 2017 to four years in prison, accused of being part of a criminal organization, committing bank fraud (three times) and laundering money (twice), while presiding over the highest entity of Brazilian football.
