taking bribes while serving as a regional governor. Vizcarra, who championed the fight against corruption as president from 2018 to 2020, was found guilty of receiving bribes from construction companies while governor of the southern Moquegua region between 2011 and 2014. Prosecutors said he received the equivalent of $640,000 in exchange for favoring the companies in the awarding of public works contracts.

Vizcarra, 62, showed no emotion as the sentence was read out at a Lima courthouse. The prosecution had requested a 15-year sentence. Vizcarra is the latest in a long line of former Peruvian presidents to be ordered to prison, mostly on corruption charges. He will join three other former presidents -- Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), and Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) -- already behind bars at a special detention center for former leaders in Lima. Vizcarra has always maintained his innocence. He was jailed for 22 days this year as an alleged flight risk but was released on bail pending the outcome of his trial, which began in October 2024. (Bssnews)