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Rosario Ex-Regional Prosecutor Patricio Serjal Sentenced to 9 Years for Protecting Illegal Gambling Ring

The verdict caps a years-long probe that relied on cooperating witnesses to expose judicial protection of a clandestine betting network.

Overview

  • A three-judge panel in Rosario’s Sala 7 imposed nine years in prison and lifetime disqualification from public office on the former regional prosecutor.
  • Judges found him guilty of organizing an illicit association, aggravated passive bribery and embezzlement of services, while acquitting him of ideological falsehood.
  • The court held that he provided judicial cover in exchange for payments to entrepreneur Leonardo Peiti, part of a scheme that ran from 2017 to 2020 across several Santa Fe cities.
  • Judicial employee Nelson Ugolini was sentenced to five years for membership in the association and bribery, with a 10-year bar from public employment.
  • Prosecutors had sought 12 years, and the case was built with wiretaps and testimony from convicted collaborators including Peiti and ex-prosecutor Gustavo Ponce Asahad.