Sérgio Cabral says he regrets having made a plea deal

Four years after having entered into a plea bargain after being sentenced to more than 340 years in prison for corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and embezzlement, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, says he abhors the collaboration and apologized to the named persons.

The regret of having collaborated with the Justice is mentioned in an interview published by the Folha de São Paulo newspaper this Thursday (9), in which Cabral tells how he is trying to rebuild his image after having his prison converted into precautionary measures a little over one month. The former governor spent six years behind bars.

In all, since 2016, Cabral has been responsible for 36 criminal actions for crimes related to the unfolding investigations of Operation Lava Jato, the use of helicopters from Rio for personal trips, receipt of bribes for carrying out works in the state, such as the renovation of the Maracanã stadium. for the 2014 World Cup games, earthworks at the Rio Petrochemical Complex (Comperj), among others.

In 2019, Cabral admitted to having received bribes in the execution of concession contracts for the subway and the Maracanã stadium, and confessed to acts of corruption in the expropriations of the port of Açu. “Something around R$100,000 to R$150,000” per month, he said in an interview at the time.

The award-winning denunciation that he regrets cited, in more than 900 pages, businessmen involved in corruption schemes and, also, an alleged sale of sentences by Minister Dias Toffoli, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). The agreement signed with the Federal Police was contested by the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and annulled in 2021, making the investigation against the magistrate unfeasible.

Although the accusation is under secrecy, the part involving Dias Toffoli was made public and indicated an alleged favoritism for the sale of judgments in the amount of R$ 4 million to help two mayors of the state of Rio, in cases that were being processed by the Superior Electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral) ( TSE). According to Cabral, the payments would have been made by the former secretary of works, Hudson Braga, through the office of lawyer Roberta Rangel, wife of Toffoli.

Cabral says that the accusation was made at a time when “I was completely devastated” with the accusations after being arrested. The investigations led to family problems and made the then wife, Adriana Ancelmo, also enter the Lava Jato’s sights.

The former governor of Rio says he was “manipulated” into accepting the agreement, even though he stated at the time that he wanted to “be a partner of the Public Ministry”.

“I abhor betrayal. In 2019, it was completely devastated. Destroyed family, broken marriage, persecuted son. I had been in prison for almost three years and I was manipulated. Thank God the Supreme [Tribunal
Federal] made her invalid. I reiterate my apologies to the aforementioned persons. I don’t carry the burden of this story with me,” he said in the interview.

He also mentions that the investigation that found a possession of US$ 100 million abroad is not related to him, and that there were people in slush two who helped him. According to Cabral, the two indicted money changers, Renato and Marcelo Chebar, “took care of a lot of people” and that there was no document proving that the money was his.

“It is the truth. Because when he starts torturing the family, the hole is a little lower. If you want to torture me, put me on a macaw stick. Now, don’t mess with my son, my brother, my mother, the mothers of my children. They did it in a fascist, disgusting, cowardly way.”

Proceedings judged by the “Judge of Lava Jato do Rio”

During the interview, Sérgio Cabral did not want to go into detail about the processes that led to his arrest. However, even with the materiality of the evidence in the records and in the award-winning delation, he says that the then judge Marcelo Bretas made “an ocean out of a drop” – the magistrate was removed from office by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) last week at the request of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), the National Justice Department and the mayor of the capital, Eduardo Paes (PSD-RJ).

“From a drop they made an ocean. From one situation, Judge Bretas makes 35 lawsuits about my public attitudes, distorts everything, lies and confuses. I never overpriced,” he said.

The former governor of Rio even minimized the practice of slush funds in elections and in the provision of services to the state government, admitting it to be something “wrong”.

“Is box two wrong? It’s wrong. But the service providers said backstage: ‘Governor, this is the first time that we have someone here who doesn’t want to be our partner’. But I made mistakes and I have to face them, as I did. I was unfairly imprisoned for six years given the circumstances and the number of processes that this person invented for me, ”he said.

Since he was released from house arrest a little over a month ago, Sérgio Cabral has been trying to rebuild his image in society. Last Sunday (5), the politician gave an interview to the Metrópoles portal in which he praised President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and criticized those responsible for Operation Lava Jato in Paraná and Rio de Janeiro.

And, on Monday (6), he created a profile on Instagram where he presents himself as a journalist and manager of positions that he no longer holds. Cabral says he has no intention of running for public office again, but that he intends to pursue a career as a journalist and even as an election campaign consultant.