Brazil judge gives 2 former cops long sentences for the 2018 murder of leftist icon Marielle Franco

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA and ELÉONORE HUGHES
Updated 7:34 PM CDT, October 31, 2024

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A judge on Thursday handed down long sentences to two former police officers for the 2018 murder of Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco, an icon of Brazil’ s political left whose killing sparked outrage.

Ronnie Lessa and Élcio de Queiroz were sentenced to almost 79 years and almost 60 years, respectively, for the March 14, 2018 drive-by shooting that killed Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes. Jurors found that Lessa fired the gun and de Queiroz was the wheelman on the night of the crime.

Lessa and de Queiroz, arrested in 2019, previously signed plea bargains confessing their roles, but the jury had final word on their guilt on homicide and other charges. The verdict, although expected, comes as a measure of solace to the many who saw the martyrdom of the Black, bisexual woman as an attack on democracy, and worried that the crime would go unpunished.

The prosecutors had argued each man should be sentenced to the maximum possible 84 years for the three counts — double homicide, attempted homicide and driving a cloned vehicle.

https://apnews.com/article/brazil-marielle-franco-police-sentence-aa9871158cdbed497ce11c8e7e004513


(Remember these two men arranged a plea agreement with the judge prior to the trial today, under enormous protest from the public.)