Salvadoran ex-president Saca released after 10-year sentence for corruption
Elias Antonio Saca, former president of El Salvador, has been released after serving a 10-year prison term for diverting over $300m in public funds during his presidency.
Saca, 61, arrived at court on Thursday to formally report his release after fulfilling the terms of a plea deal in which he confessed to diverting and laundering more than $300m from public funds during his 2004 to 2009 administration. His lawyer, Mario Machado, confirmed that the former president had served his sentence in full without receiving early-release benefits.
Arrest and conviction
Saca was first arrested during his son's wedding in 2016 and was sentenced to five years for embezzlement and another five years for money laundering in September 2018. A plea bargain allowed him to avoid a potential 30-year prison sentence.
In 2019, the former president was found guilty of offering $10,000 to a court employee to obtain information about a case against him, though a judge determined the second sentence to be part of his existing 10-year term.
Political background
Saca, a businessman and radio broadcaster, served as president as part of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). During his initial trial, prosecutors said he appropriated funds from the state budget for himself and others, including taking more than $7m for his former party.
Broader context
Saca is one of four Salvadoran presidents who have faced corruption charges, including his successor Mauricio Funes, who escaped to Nicaragua in September 2016 and died there in 2025.
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