Following an oral trial lasting ten days, the former health secretary in the administration of Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval was sentenced to nine years in prison after being found guilty of engaging in various corrupt practices, including the “diversion and misuse of public resources.”
The key charge related to the purchase of video surveillance cameras for health centers that was never installed. He was also convicted for approving “overpriced” purchases of equipment, with a value of more than 600 million pesos, and making irregular payments to employees and suppliers without any accompanying documentation.
Antonio “N”, as the doctor and former health secretary is officially referred to under Mexican laws restricting the media from naming arrested suspects or convicted criminals, served as health secretary between 2016 and late 2018. (Editor’s note: Of course, the identity of the ex-official is known to everyone, and many Mexican media outlets flouted the rather vague rules in the wake of this week’s sentencing, publishing articles quoting Antonio “N”’s full name. Nonetheless, in this case, we will follow the letter of the law.)
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