The former auditor of Arrecife, Carlos Sáenz, the businessman José Vicente Montesinos, and the current manager of Lancelot Medios, Javier Betancort, have already accepted their sentences in the second part of the Montecarlo case. After confessing at the beginning of the trial that they embezzled 310,000 euros from the Arrecife City Council, the Prosecutor's Office has proposed a significant reduction in the penalties it was asking for the three, applying as a mitigating factor the "collaboration with Justice".
In the case of Montesinos, he must serve a sentence of three years, four months and 16 days in prison, while Carlos Sáenz will be sentenced to three years, three months and eight days in prison. The two must also face a fine of 150,000 euros each. As for Javier Betancort, the prosecutor has requested a sentence of one year and six months in prison, which has also been accepted by his defense.
Initially, the Prosecutor's Office requested 15 and a half years in prison for Carlos Sáenz and Montesinos for continued crimes of embezzlement, prevarication, documentary falsification, bribery and money laundering; and 5 years and 10 months in prison for Javier Betancort for embezzlement, prevarication and documentary falsification.
For the fourth defendant and the only one who has not confessed, the lawyer Federico Toledo, the Prosecutor's Office has maintained its request for four years and ten months in prison for professional disloyalty and as a necessary collaborator in the crime of embezzlement.
The trial, which was initially scheduled to take place over three days, has been adjourned for sentencing this Thursday in a single session, as the parties have waived most of the witnesses. The only ones who have testified have done so in relation to the charges against Toledo, who has defended his innocence during the trial.
As for the other three defendants, at the beginning of the hearing they limited themselves to saying "yes" when asked if they recognized the facts contained in the Prosecutor's Office's indictment. Later, at the end of the trial, their lawyers adhered to the modification of the penalties proposed by the prosecutor, thus accepting the sentences.
