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News · WorldTony Saca walks out of prison: El Salvador's former president served 10 years for diverting more than 300 million
Elías Antonio Saca, president from 2004 to 2009, regained his freedom after serving his sentence for embezzlement and money laundering. Prosecutors warn that the assets taken from him will not be returned.
Translated from the original Spanish article. Read in Spanish
News published on October 30, 2026. The situation may have changed since then.
El Salvador's former president Elías Antonio Saca, known as Tony Saca, left prison on Thursday, October 29, 2026. He is 61.
Ten years later
Saca governed from 2004 to 2009 with the Arena party. He was arrested on October 30, 2016, in the middle of his son's wedding.
The Attorney General's Office confirmed that he has served his sentence. The release order was signed on October 27.
After leaving, he went to the Isidro Menéndez Judicial Center in San Salvador to complete the paperwork. He said very little to the press.
Why he was in prison
In 2018 he admitted the charges in a plea deal. He was sentenced to five years for embezzlement and five for money laundering.
According to prosecutors, his network took more than 301 million dollars from the Presidential House during his government. Three of his former secretaries were convicted along with him.
Saca was the first former Salvadoran president convicted of corruption since the return of democracy.
The debt that remains
Leaving prison does not erase his debt. He must pay 260.7 million dollars to the State in civil liability.
Prosecutors made clear that properties and businesses obtained with corruption money will not be returned to him. Asset forfeiture cases remain open against assets belonging to him, his relatives and alleged front men.
In 2019 he also admitted paying 10,000 dollars to a court employee to obtain information. That two-year sentence is already covered by the time he spent in prison.
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Sources (in Spanish)
- Salida de prisión, condena, cifras y procesos pendientes: Infobae (29 de octubre de 2026).
- La Fiscalía confirma la orden de libertad: El Diario de Hoy (28 de octubre de 2026).
- Llegada al Centro Judicial: Diario El Salvador (29 de octubre de 2026).
- Primer expresidente condenado por corrupción: Noticias SIN (29 de octubre de 2026).
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