Ex-Bolivia official receives stiff jail sentence for bribes

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — A former Bolivian interior minister has been sentenced in the United States to nearly six years in prison for taking at least $532,000 in bribes to help a Florida company win a lucrative contract to sell tear gas to his country’s government. Arturo Murillo pleaded guilty in October to a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering following similar guilty pleas entered by his former chief of staff and three men tied to the Florida-based supplier of police and military equipment. He was sentenced Wednesday. Murillo was one of the most outspoken voices in the conservative government that took power in November 2019 after President Evo Morales stepped down amid violent protests disputing his reelection to a fourth straight term.