After years of investigation and a heated legal battle, a court in Guatemala on Wednesday sentenced former President Otto Perez Molina and former Vice President Roxana Baldetti to 16 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy charges.

According to Prensa Libre, they were both found guilty of illicit association (8 years) and customs fraud (8 years) but were acquitted of illegal enrichment charges.  

The court also ordered Perez to pay $1.10 million (8.7 million quetzales), while Baldetti was fined $1.06 million (8.4 million quetzales). As reported in Reuters, Perez Molina, who has always maintained his innocence, voiced his frustration at the court's decision.

"All that's left is to appeal," the 72-year-old former president said during a break in the trial, adding he felt "cheated" since the conviction was made "without a shred of proof."

The Associated Press reported that Perez Molina and Baldetti resigned in 2015 and have spent the last seven years in prison awaiting a verdict on charges of permitting and benefiting from a customs graft scheme known as La Linea, or "The Line."

The pair were accused of leading this customs fraud network that defrauded the state by letting businesses evade import duties in exchange for bribes.

During their administration, the country reportedly lost some $3.5 million in state funds, and investigators accused both Perez Molina and Baldetti of receiving hefty cuts.

The former president was forced to resign with only four months left in his term amid protests over corruption scandals. Baldetti also stepped down from her office and was charged for her connection to the case.

The former vice president was already sentenced in 2018 to more than 15 years in prison in a separate fraud case. Aside from Perez Molina and Baldetti, around 30 other people were also implicated in the "La Linea" case.

The verdict was a win for Guatemala's efforts to fight and curb systemic corruption aided by the United Nations-backed anticorruption mission, known by its Spanish initials CICIG.

READ MORE: Argentina: Vice President Cristina Fernandez Found Guilty of Fraud, Gets 6 Years in Prison

Former Guatemala President Otto Perez Molina Expects to be Acquitted Before Ruling

Hours before the ruling was announced by Guatemala's High Risk Court "B," Otto Perez Molina told the media that he expected to be acquitted, saying that his acquittal will show the people of Guatemala the truth. 

The former president hoped the court would resolve the case "according to the law and all the evidence has been valued fairly, and then it is the truly acquittal sentence."

He had also been telling everyone that all the defendants in the case trusted the court's work. He noted that "today will be the day that the truth of things will be told [and] after 7 years and 3 months, in which we showed our faces, we did not go on the run, I resigned as president."

Perez Molina reiterated his belief that they will be acquitted, telling the press that the deception done to "the Guatemalan people who believed in CICIG and what they were doing, will be removed." 

However, when the verdict was announced, it was the exact opposite of what he expected. Diario La Hora reported that La Linea was the first corruption case revealed by the Public Ministry (MP) and the CICIG. 

Crackdowns on Several Former Presidents in Latin America

The verdict against the former President of Guatemala came in the same week that Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who previously served as president of the country, was also found guilty of fraud by an Argentinian court.

She was sentenced to six years in prison for a fraud scheme that embezzled $1 billion through public works projects during her presidency. She was also given a lifetime ban from holding public office.

Otto Perez Molina's verdict also happened just a few hours after Pedro Castillo was ousted as president of Peru. Congress voted Castillo out when he triggered a constitutional crisis by attempting to dissolve the legislative body.

Following his ouster as the president, Castillo was then arrested by police. He was also immediately replaced by Vice President Dina Boluarte, who became Peru's first female president.

READ MORE: Dina Boluarte Is Peru's First Female President After Pedro Castillo Gets Arrested: Who Is She and How Did She Take Presidential Seat?

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Judge Orders Molina Jailed While Facing Charges - From AP Archive