The former Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes was sentenced this Wednesday to six years in prison by the Third Criminal Court of San Salvador, for tax evasion.

According to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the former president reported no income for about $271,000 in 2014thus evading payment of tax taxes for $85,157.

“This court fails on behalf of the Republic of El Salvador: Defendant Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is sentenced to serve six years in prison for the crime of tax fraud in the form of evasion”, the court said, according to the Salvadoran newspaper The world.

Funes, who governed El Salvador from 2009 to 2014, will also have to pay $200,000 in civil liability.

The judges handed down the minimum sentence, although the prosecution had demanded eight years in prison for the former president. They also added that the statement “It was a deliberate and disguised action”, as his income statement did not match his income in 2014.

“We are not faced with an omission, but rather with a person who acted (…) because it was not possible to record that it was a person other than the one who made the statement, making him a leading author of makes the crime of tax fraud, where he has provided false information,” the court added.

Although the defense of Funes, who declared himself “according to” the verdict, had assured that the former president would not be made aware of the irregularities until 2020the court ensured that it received a maximum of four notices from the Treasury and that the convict was aware of the entire process.

That is what a lawyer for Funes, who did not identify himself, told reporters outside the court “It will be evaluated if the conviction is appealed.”

On May 29, former President Funes was sentenced, always in absentia, to fourteen years in prison for facilitating a ceasefire with gangs while in office.

On that occasion, Funes was sentenced to eight years in prison for the offense of belonging to illegal groups and another six years for dereliction of duty.

Also, in November 2017, another court in San Salvador issued a civil conviction against Funes and one of his sons for illicit enrichment after, according to the prosecution, they failed to justify the source of income at $206,665 and $212,484, respectively.

Both were ordered to return to the state the amount they could not justify.