Mauricio Funes, former president of El Salvador, sentenced to prison for tax evasion

Mauricio Funes was sentenced on Wednesday to six years in prison following a trial in which El Salvador’s former head of state from 2009 to 2014 was accused of avoiding paying about $ 85,000 in taxes to the state.

In addition to serving a prison sentence for tax evasion, Salvador’s former president also received a $ 200,000 fine.

The 63-year-old former journalist and president lives in Nicaragua, where he has obtained citizenship and political asylum and has no extradition treaty with El Salvador.

Wednesday’s court ruling comes just a month after Funes was sentenced in absentia to another 14 years in prison in a separate trial in which he was accused of negotiating with Salvadoran gangs to grant them various benefits to reduce crime.

Also in the trial, former Justice Minister David Munguia Payes was sentenced to 18 years.