Accused of having turned a rented apartment into a weapons warehouse, the former PM had the sentence increased from four to five years in prison in a closed regime. Lessa remains imprisoned in a maximum security prison, in Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul.
In the ruling, the judges highlighted that “the consequences of the crime deserve a negative judgment of censorship, as the consequences of the crime committed are harmful, due to the connection of Ronnie Lessa’s firearms to very serious crimes, especially homicides, which form a cause of torment and terror to Rio de Janeiro society”.
In the same process, the Rio de Janeiro Court also extended the sentence of the former military police officer’s wife, Elaine Lessa, and three other people, including Lessa’s brother-in-law. Requests to increase sentences came from the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ).
Marielle: Ronnie Lessa is convicted in the second instance in a process that investigates the disappearance of a murder weapon
The main line of investigation so far indicates that the submachine gun used in the murder of the councilor and driver Anderson Gomes may have been thrown into the sea. The murder weapon was never located.
Marielle Franco case: find out who those involved in the crime are
The action was caught on the security camera of a condominium in Jacarepaguá, in the West Zone, where Lessa had an apartment, in March 2019.
The investigation showed that the boxes that stored the weapons were thrown into the sea and that this happened hours after Ronnie Lessa’s arrest.
Witness says he saw suspect involved in Marielle’s death throw weapons into the sea
Accused of engineering the plan, Elaine Lessa, wife of the former PM sergeant, was sentenced in 2021 to four years in open prisonbut at the time the court exchanged the sentence for community service.
With this Wednesday’s decision (8), following an appeal by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the sentence was increased to eight years in semi-open prison.
The same sentence applies to Bruno Pereira Figueiredo, Elaine’s brother and Ronnie Lessa’s brother-in-law. José Marcio Mantovano, caught carrying the boxes, got seven years in prison.
Josinaldo Lucas Freitas, accused of throwing weapons into the sea, had his sentence increased from four to six years in prison, also under a semi-open regime.
In a statement, José Márcio Mantovano’s defense informed that it does not agree with the sentence, and that it will appeal.
The defense of Ronnie Lessa, Elaine Lessa and Bruno Pereira Figueiredo did not comment on the decision.
The report was unable to contact Josinaldo Lucas Freitas’ defense.
Tags: Justice increases Ronnie Lessas sentence disappearance weapons kill Marielle Franco Rio Janeiro
