Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been found guilty of corruption charges stemming from a scheme at the state oil company, Petrobras. He will remain free on appeal. Lula remains a very popular politician with widespread public support.

The Brazilian newspaper Estadao was the first to report the news, in Portuguese. </s> Brazilian federal investigators have charged former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with money laundering and corruption.

The charges are in connection with a sprawling corruption investigation at state-run oil giant Petrobras.

Silva, his wife and five others are accused of illegally benefiting from renovations at a beachfront apartment in the coastal city of Guaruja, in Sao Paulo state.

The improvements were made by constructors involved in the kickback scheme emanating from Petrobras.

Silva acknowledges having visited the penthouse but says he never owned it.

Judge Sergio Moro must now decide whether Silva will stand trial.

In a separate case related to Petrobras, Silva will go on trial charged with obstruction of justice. </s> Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was found guilty of corruption Wednesday in the first of five trials facing the popular politician.

A federal judge sentenced the former leader of Latin America’s biggest country to nine years and six months in prison after his conviction Wednesday. He will remain free while the decision is appealed.

Lula was convicted of accepting $1.2 million in bribes from contractor OAS, which prosecutors said was used for the purchase and renovation of a luxury penthouse apartment in the seaside town of Guaruja. Prosecutors said that in return Lula helped the firm win contracts with state-run oil giant Petrobras.

The verdict by Judge Sergio Moro, who is known for taking a tough stance on politicians and entrepreneurs involved in Brazil’s billion-dollar corruption scandal known as Lava Jato, or Car Wash, will be analyzed by the 4th Federal Regional Court, a standard practice. The court takes an average of a year and a half to review sentencing decisions.

Moro will also preside over one of Lula’s other four Lava Jato-related trials. The other three will be tried in the Federal Court of Brasilia.

This is the highest-profile conviction to date related to the widespread graft investigation, which has seen several politicians and well-known figures in business fall from grace for their involvement in the sweeping corruption scheme.

They include impeached lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, who is serving a sentence of 15 years and four months for corruption, money laundering and tax evasion, and former Rio de Janeiro Gov. Sergio Cabral, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of corruption and money laundering.

Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2011, is considered the country’s most popular politician and was seen as the top candidate for the 2018 elections in polling company Datafolha’s June poll.

12:30 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with Times reporting.

This article was originally published at 11:55 am. </s> SÃO PAULO -- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was convicted convicted Wednesday on corruption charges stemming from the Car Wash graft probe, the massive investigation into corruption centered on state-owned oil company Petróleo Brasileiro.

Mr. da Silva has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His representatives couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Judge Sergio Moro sentenced Mr. da Silva to nine years and six months, a spokeswoman for the judge said. </s> RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian federal investigators have charged former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva with money laundering and corruption.

The charges announced Wednesday are in connection with a sprawling corruption investigation at state-run oil giant Petrobras.

Silva, his wife and five others are accused of illegally benefiting from renovations at a beachfront apartment in the coastal city of Guaruja, in Sao Paulo state. The improvements were made by constructors involved in the kickback scheme emanating from Petrobras.

FILE - In this Aug. 29, 2016 file photo, Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attends the impeachment trial of suspended President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia, Brazil. Federal investigators charged Lula with money laundering and corruption on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016 in connection with a sprawling corruption investigation at state-run oil giant Petrobras. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)

Silva acknowledges having visited the penthouse but says he never owned it.

Police recommended the charges last month. Judge Sergio Moro must now decide whether Silva will stand trial.

In a separate case related to Petrobras, Silva will go on trial charged with obstruction of justice. </s> Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 71, was convicted on corruption charges on Wednesday and sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison. </s> A Brazilian appellate court has unanimously upheld a corruption conviction imposed on former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – and added years to his prison sentence.

A Brazilian appellate court has unanimously upheld a corruption conviction imposed on former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva – and added years to his prison sentence.

The decision was the latest legal setback for Mr da Silva, who was wildly popular as president between 2003 and 2010 but has since been dogged by corruption allegations amid a scandal that has taken down top politicians and business executives in Latin America’s largest nation. While Mr da Silva has several avenues to still get on the October ballot – and his lawyers have indicated they will appeal any setback – the ruling further complicates a political comeback.

Judges sit in an appellate court during a hearing to consider whether to uphold or throw out a corruption conviction against Brazil’s former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Porto Alegre, Brazil (Sylvio Sirangelo/TRF via AP) Many argue that sidelining him could anger millions of his supporters and shake the country’s political stability. A three-judge panel heard arguments from both sides over Mr da Silva’s conviction on corruption and money-laundering charges alleging that he took a payoff from a construction company in return for contracts.

Judge Joao Pedro Gebran Neto was the first to vote. He went beyond the original conviction, saying that jail time should be 12 years and one month, an increase of more than two years from the sentence levied in July. “I consider the culpability in the case extremely high,” he said.

“This is about a former president and a corruption scheme that prevailed for years.” The following two judges agreed on all counts.

While Mr da Silva faces corruption charges in six more cases, the 72-year-old has been leading preference polls for October’s race. Supporters use their mobile phones during a protest in support of ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Rio de Janeiro (Silvia Izquierdo/AP) His Workers’ Party called the decision a “farce” and defiantly declared it would proceed with its plan to register him as its presidential candidate in August.

“We will fight in defence of democracy in all forums, in the judiciary and mainly on the streets,” party chairwoman Gleisi Hoffmann said in a statement. “If some think the story ends with today’s decision, they are very wrong because we do not surrender before injustice.”

With tensions high, authorities closed streets around the courthouse in the southern city of Porto Alegre as the hearing opened. Helicopters hovered above, police patrolled on horses and sharpshooters stood on rooftops. In this deeply polarised, continent-sized nation, the case is part of a larger narrative, with supporters and detractors of Mr da Silva offering their own interpretations.

Mr da Silva and his supporters say it and the other corruption cases are an attempt to keep him from returning to office. They argue it is part of a conspiracy by Brazil’s elite seeking to keep out a president like Mr da Silva who focuses on the poor and levels the playing field in one of the world’s most unequal nations. Detractors note that Mr da Silva and his left-leaning Workers’ Party were running the country while a widespread corruption scheme siphoned billions from state oil company Petrobras and helped Latin America’s largest economy fall into its worst recession in decades.

“I supported Lula long ago, but he became one of the crooks,” said Diego Esteves, a university student in Porto Alegre. Rodrigo Maia, speaker of the lower house of Congress, said that despite having long been a political foe of Mr da Silva, he was not celebrating on Wednesday. “In politics, the best forum for different ideas to do battle is an electoral campaign,” he said in a statement. </s> Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been convicted of corruption and money laundering charges and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.

Still, Lula — as he's commonly known — has long denied the charges and plans to appeal the conviction. He will remain free as long as that appeals process unfolds.

Federal Judge Sergio Moro found the popular politician guilty of illegally taking more than $1 million in kickbacks from an engineering company, using the money to refurbish a beachfront apartment.

Yet this is hardly the only charge Lula faced — and far from the end of his difficult legal straits. Bloomberg reports this case was just one of five filed against the left-wing politician, ranging from "allegations of influence peddling to accepting perks from companies in exchange for government favors."

Even as his appeal is heard in this case, he faces four more trials over corruption allegations.

Prosecutors had long been "building a case that alleges millions of dollars' worth of payments and goods were funneled from Petrobras, Brazil's biggest company, to Silva and his associates," NPR's Bill Chappell noted last year. "An official prosecutor's statement lists real estate, construction work and luxury furniture as some of the alleged ill-gotten gains, along with suspicious cash donations."

"The present conviction does not bring this judge any personal satisfaction. Quite the contrary, it is regrettable that a former president be criminally convicted," Moro said in his decision, the Associated Press reports. "It doesn't matter how high you are, the law is still above you."

The marquee conviction is just the latest development in a massive corruption probe known as Operation Car Wash, which has also shaken the tenure of Brazil's current president, Michel Temer.

Temer, a conservative, took power last year after lawmakers impeached Lula's handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, for allegedly mishandling the country's budget.

Now, Temer faces impeachment questions of his own. The deeply unpopular sitting president was slapped with formal corruption charges of his own last month. He was tape-recorded apparently approving hush money for a jailed politician, and prosecutors say he has accepted promises for millions of dollars in bribes from Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS.

Despite Lula's own scandals, the former leader was viewed as a possible front-runner for the 2018 presidential race. Since leaving office roughly six years ago after two terms, Lula has retained a high level of popularity.

But Bloomberg points out that Wednesday's conviction is likely to complicate the left-wing politician's hopes of returning to power.

"Over the past few months he has consolidated his position in opinion polls as the front-runner for the presidential race," the media outlet reports, "but he will become ineligible if his sentence is upheld on appeal." </s> Brazil's top appeals court on Friday rejected former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s latest plea that he stay out of prison until he has exhausted all appeals to his corruption conviction, according to a court document.

Lula has been ordered to turn himself in to police by 5 p.m. on Friday to begin serving a 12-year sentence for accepting bribes from an engineering firm in return for help landing contracts with Brazil’s state-run oil company.
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is convicted on corruption and money laundering charges in connection with the Petrobras investigation. Lula, who remains free on appeal, is sentenced to nine and a half years in prison.