Ernesto Muyshondt.
Today, the Fifth Sentencing Court of San Salvador sentenced former mayor Ernesto Muyshondt to four years in prison for dereliction of duty during his term as mayor of the capital (2018-2021).
The former capital city mayor was also charged with misappropriating tax withholdings or collections, but the sentencing judge acquitted him of that charge.
Muyshondt received the minimum sentence, even though the FGR prosecutor initially requested an 8-year prison term for the dereliction of duty charges.
Oscar Argueta, Ernesto Muyshondt’s lawyer, told reporters they would appeal the judge’s decision and noted that the provisional detention for the crimes he was sentenced for ended in August 2023.
Muyshondt has been in pretrial detention for over three years, with only two of those years connected to the case he was sentenced for today. He still has two years left to serve in prison.
The former mayor’s legal troubles are far from over; he also faces another case involving illegal negotiations and electoral fraud, related to alleged pacts with gangs during the 2014 elections.
Ernesto “Neto” Muyshondt is the former mayor of San Salvador for the right-wing political party ARENA (2018-2021) and former deputy of the Legislative Assembly for the same party (2015-2018).
SEE ALSO: Ernesto Muyshondt. Politician Ex-Mayor of San Salvador
Electoral Fraud and Illicit Associations Charges
Ernesto Muyshondt is accused of the crimes of electoral fraud and illegal negotiations. Muyshondt’s accusations of negotiating with gangs for votes originated from the 2014 presidential campaign.
The former mayor is accused of meeting with gang members and allegedly paying them to vote for Norman Quijano, the presidential candidate of the right-wing political party ARENA.
Muyshondt met with the gang leaders to influence them to have their families and other gang members vote in their favor in exchange for money.
Ernesto Muyshondt, then vice president of Arena, is seen in a video along with Salvador Ruano, the mayor of Ilopango at the time, meeting with representatives of the MS13 and the two factions of Barrio 18, Revolucionarios and Sureños.
In it, Muyshondt offers, if Quijano wins, to end the maximum security regime at the Zacatecoluca prison, where the principal historical leaders of the gangs were currently serving sentences.
Both Muyshondt and Ruano acknowledged the authenticity of the video, admitting that the meeting aimed to thwart gang interference in Quijano’s 2014 presidential candidacy and establish a pact to curb homicides in exchange for prison reforms.
