<p>Lima: Peruvian former President Alejandro Toledo was convicted of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison on Monday.</p><p>The verdict marks Peru's first high-profile conviction related to Brazil's continent-spanning Lava Jato corruption scandal.</p><p>Toledo, a 78-year-old economist who holds a doctorate from Stanford University, governed the Andean nation between 2001 and 2006.</p> .<p>He was convicted of taking $35 million in bribes from the company formerly known as Odebrecht, according to prosecutors, in exchange for letting it win a contract to build the road that now connects Peru's southern coast with an Amazonian area in western Brazil.</p><p>During the year-long trial, Toledo denied the money-laundering and collusion charges.</p> .<p>Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, was at the center of Latin America's largest graft scandal, after admitting in 2016 that it bribed officials in a dozen countries to secure public works contracts.</p><p>Last week, Toledo asked the court to let him serve his sentence at home as he battles cancer.</p><p>"Please let me heal or die at home," he said.</p><p>The sentence was announced in a room set up in a small Lima prison where Toledo has been detained since last year.</p> .<p>Former President Pedro Castillo is also being held there as he faces allegations of "rebellion" after trying to dissolve Congress in 2022.</p><p>Two other ex-presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also being investigated in the Odebrecht case.</p><p>Toledo, who famously shined shoes as a child, was arrested in the United States in 2019 after officials in Peru requested his extradition.</p><p>Prosecutors relied on testimony from former Odebrecht executive Jorge Barata as well as Toledo's ex-collaborator Josef Maiman, who said Toledo received bribes.</p><p>The former president signed the contract with Odebrecht for the construction of the road, though building it took place over two subsequent administrations. </p>
<p>Lima: Peruvian former President Alejandro Toledo was convicted of taking bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht and sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison on Monday.</p><p>The verdict marks Peru's first high-profile conviction related to Brazil's continent-spanning Lava Jato corruption scandal.</p><p>Toledo, a 78-year-old economist who holds a doctorate from Stanford University, governed the Andean nation between 2001 and 2006.</p> .<p>He was convicted of taking $35 million in bribes from the company formerly known as Odebrecht, according to prosecutors, in exchange for letting it win a contract to build the road that now connects Peru's southern coast with an Amazonian area in western Brazil.</p><p>During the year-long trial, Toledo denied the money-laundering and collusion charges.</p> .<p>Odebrecht, now known as Novonor, was at the center of Latin America's largest graft scandal, after admitting in 2016 that it bribed officials in a dozen countries to secure public works contracts.</p><p>Last week, Toledo asked the court to let him serve his sentence at home as he battles cancer.</p><p>"Please let me heal or die at home," he said.</p><p>The sentence was announced in a room set up in a small Lima prison where Toledo has been detained since last year.</p> .<p>Former President Pedro Castillo is also being held there as he faces allegations of "rebellion" after trying to dissolve Congress in 2022.</p><p>Two other ex-presidents, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Ollanta Humala, are also being investigated in the Odebrecht case.</p><p>Toledo, who famously shined shoes as a child, was arrested in the United States in 2019 after officials in Peru requested his extradition.</p><p>Prosecutors relied on testimony from former Odebrecht executive Jorge Barata as well as Toledo's ex-collaborator Josef Maiman, who said Toledo received bribes.</p><p>The former president signed the contract with Odebrecht for the construction of the road, though building it took place over two subsequent administrations. </p>