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Alejandro Burzaco, the former head of Argentine
sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias, was sentenced
to time served on Friday by U.S. District Judge Pamela Chen in
Brooklyn federal court.
No fine was imposed. The defendant previously forfeited about
$21.7 million.
Burzaco, 58, had pleaded guilty in 2015 to three counts of
racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy and money
laundering conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
He admitted to paying bribes and kickbacks to officials at world
soccer governing body FIFA and regional affiliates for marketing
rights to tournaments including the World Cup and Copa America.
Burzaco also said Qatar bribed FIFA officials to host the 2022
World Cup, which the Middle Eastern country denies.
"We're thrilled" with the sentence, Burzaco's lawyer Jim Walden
said in an interview. "Alejandro and his family are grateful to
Judge Chen for her compassion and wisdom, and to prosecutors for
recognizing the substantial good Alejandro has done."
Prosecutors did not recommend a specific sentence for Burzaco. A
spokesman for U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in Brooklyn had no
additional comment.
The FIFA corruption probe has resulted in scores of convictions
since U.S. and international authorities announced their first
arrests in 2015.
At a 2017 trial, Burzaco told jurors he paid bribes to Juan
Angel Napout, the former head of South American governing body
CONMEBOL; former Brazilian soccer chief Jose Maria Marin, and
former Peru soccer federation president Manuel Burga to secure
rights to matches.
Napout and Marin were convicted and Burga was found not guilty.
Burzaco also testified at this year's trial of Hernan Lopez and
Carlos Martinez, two former 21st Century Fox executives accused
of bribing soccer officials for broadcasting rights. Lopez and
sports marketing company Full Play Group SA were convicted and
Martinez was acquitted.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by
Jonathan Stempel; editing by Ed Osmond and Bill Berkrot)
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