The suspended Federal Judge of Mendoza Walter Bento, his wife Marta Boiza and two of their sons, Nahuel and Luciano, were seated in the second row of the courtroom of the Federal Justice, in the city of Mendoza, at the start of the oral trial against him.
The Federal Oral Court No. 2 (TOF 2) of Mendoza judges -since this Wednesday- Bento of being the leader of an illicit association of customs brokers and lawyers who required money and real estate from prisoners in exchange for procedural favors for detainees in cases of smuggling and drug trafficking.
In parallel, Bento will face next month a jury in the Council of the Magistracy in which if he is dismissed and loses his immunity, he will be imprisoned because he was ordered preventive detention for the serious charges against him but his jurisdictions, until now, exempt him from going to jail.
From 9 in the morning, in the room on the first floor of federal courts, the reading of the accusation began before the requisition of the judges that make up the court: Gretel Diamante, María Carolina Pereira (both from the province of San Luis) and Eliana Rattá (San Juan).
Judge Walter Bento during trial in Mendoza. Photo Los Andes
The person responsible for the investigation of the case, who is the attorney general Dante Vega, was present, together with the prosecutor of the trial, the prosecutor of the Chamber Gloria André.
In addition to Bento and his family, 29 other people are on trial. They are accused of 15 cases of active bribery (bribery), money laundering, illicit enrichment, violation of secrets, violation of duties of a public official and false testimony, according to the complaint of the prosecutor's office.
The list of 29 accused is completed by: Alfredo Aliaga, Carlos Federico Barón, Martín Bazán, Marcos Adrián Calderón, Mariano Enrique Castro, Leandro Emanuel Cirot, Walter Aníbal Costa, Enrique de la Cruz Rodríguez, Daniel Gonzalo Martínez, Jéssica Miere, Jorge Omar Miranda, Juan Carlos Molina, Eugenio Nasi, Cristian Oliva, Javier Santos Ortega, Omar Armando Rodríguez and José María Sanguedolce. All these for aggravated active bribery.
On the first day, several testimonies were read confirming that the murdered customs broker, Diego Aliaga, said that he had contacts to get prisoners out of prison. The connection was Walter Bento, whom he referred to as "cousin" or "the one who signs." One witness even said that he had taken money from a bribe to a golf course.
The number of defendants, witnesses and evidence portends an extensive trial that could last up to a year. Only the reading of the request for elevation to trial will take 8 days. The hearings will be in three weekly days: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, every 15 days, which will start at 9 and end around 16:30 p.m.
Judge Walter Bento during trial in Mendoza. Photo Los Andes
Lawyer Mariano Cúneo Libarona resigned from Bento's defense. The lawyer who replaces him is Mariano Fragueiro Frías, who comes from obtaining acquittals in the Vialidad case. This morning, the defense announced that Bento "will testify at the beginning of the round of witnesses."
Both before the Justice and before the Council of the Magistracy, Bento denied having committed any wrongdoing as a federal judge.
A dozen uniformed officers, both from the Federal Police and the Federal Penitentiary Service, guard the debate room in the presence of nine defendants who are deprived of their liberty.
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