Last night Otto Pérez Molina, the former president of Guatemala, spent his first night in prison.

On Wednesday Guatemala's attorney general issued an arrest warrant for Pérez Molina for his ties to a customs department scandal that has already led to the arrest of former Vice President Roxanna Baldetti.

As previously reported, the 64-year-old ex-leader resigned from office Wednesday night. The next day, he was taken into a military prison in the capital city.

Alejandro Maldonado, who had recently assumed the vice presidency after Baldetti stepped down in May, has been sworn in as the new president. He is expected to govern until the new president is sworn in on Jan. 14.

Pérez Molina has continually maintained his innocence. Last month the president went on Guatemalan national TV and radio to deny the charges against him, saying, "I categorically deny and reject the accusation that I was involved [in a corruption scheme] and having received any money from that customs fraud scheme."

On Tuesday, before Pérez Molina’s arrest, his lawyer César Calderón spoke to CNN en Español about his client’s willingness to cooperate and appear before a judge. "The President has not run away, has not hidden, will not flee and will not seek asylum," said Calderón.

All this political upheaval comes days before the presidential elections take place on Sunday.

Adriana Beltran of the nonprofit Washington Office for Latin America has expressed her enthusiasm about Pérez Molina’s fate. As quoted in the LA Times, she said, "This sends a very strong and very clear message to those who are wanting a change, a different form of government, that it can happen."