The former Peronist governor of Entre Ríos Sergio Urribarri was arrested after the sentence he received for the crimes of embezzlement and incompatible negotiations with public office became final.
The Justice system found it proven that he diverted state funds for personal purposes and used advertising contracts and other public resources to finance his political projection and his presidential campaign in 2015.
The arrest order also extended to his brother-in-law, Juan Pablo Aguilera, and Pedro Báez, who was the Minister of Communication during his administration. Both were sentenced to six and a half years in prison in the same case.
Sergio Urribarri and Cristina Kirchner
The decision was made by the Trial Court that had convicted the three and established that they should begin serving their respective sentences in the Penal Unit of Paraná (UP1).
Urribarri was at his home in Concordia when police officers went to fetch him to transfer him to the provincial capital. The journey between the two cities is about 280 kilometers and, due to the condition of National Route 18, the transfer took nearly four hours. As a result, the former governor entered UP1 during the early morning.
The former official, an ally of Kirchnerism and former ambassador to Israel during Alberto Fernández's government, had originally been sentenced on April 7, 2022, and permanently disqualified from holding public office.
The possibility of him serving his sentence in the Paraná prison had been considered among various alternatives after the Supreme Court rejected the last appeal filed to try to overturn the sentence.
Sergio Urribarri
In addition to UP1 in Paraná, the other options that had been evaluated for his accommodation were UP3 in Concordia and the penal colony of Gualeguaychú.
The definitive confirmation of the sentence opened the way for the execution of the penalty to begin. In light of this situation, Urribarri's defense made a last-minute presentation aimed at preventing his entry into prison.
The lawyers invoked reasons related to his health condition and requested that the execution of the sentence be suspended and that he be granted the benefit of house arrest.
However, the Trial Court ruled that Urribarri, Aguilera, and Báez should begin serving their sentences in the Penal Unit of Paraná. Thus, the former Peronist governor was housed in prison after the corruption sentence became final.
