Guatemalan ex-judge pleads guilty to US charges in FIFA scandal

New York, June 3: A former judge of the Guatemalan Constitutional Court pleaded guilty in a US federal court to charges linked to corruption in FIFA, football's world governing body.

Hector Trujillo, 63, was indicted for wire fraud and conspiracy for actions that took place during his tenure as head of Guatemala's Fedefut football federation, reports Efe.

Before a US district judge in Brooklyn, Trujillo admitted to having taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from Miami-based Media World in exchange for marketing rights to 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

The Guatemalan, whose sentencing was set for September 20, agreed not to challenge any jail term of less than 57 months, federal prosecutors said.

Trujillo was arrested in December 2015 aboard a cruise ship in Florida.

In 2015, the US Department of Justice indicted more than a dozen sports executives implicated in a web of graft centered on FIFA.

Since then, more than 40 individuals and firms caught up in the scandal have entered guilty pleas in US courts.