Honduras court overturns 58-year sentence for ex-first lady
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras’ Supreme Court has overturned a 58-year prison sentence against former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla and ordered a new trial for her.
Court spokesman Melvin Duarte said Friday the sentence was overturned because of procedural and other errors during the first trial.
In September, a lower court had convicted Bonilla of embezzling about $600,000 in government money between 2010 and 2014, when her husband Porfirio Lobo was president.
The case was originally brought by the Organization of American States’ anti-corruption mission.
Investigators for the nongovernmental National Anti-Corruption Council have told prosecutors that Bonilla deposited $600,000 in government funds into her personal bank account five days before Lobo ended his four-year term in January 2014.
Prosecutors said she used the money to buy jewelry and pay credit cards.
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