Santo Domingo. – The businessman Alexis Medina Sánchez, the main defendant in the so-called Antipulpo case, hired a new legal representative for the knowledge of the appeal filed against the sentence that sentenced him to seven years in prison.
Attorney Wendy Lora takes over the defense in place of Richard Martinez, who represented him during the trial on the merits before the Second Collegiate Court of the National District.
It’s not the first time Medina has modified his legal team. At the beginning of the process, during the coercion measure stage and part of the preliminary trial, he was assisted by lawyer Carlos Salcedo, who later withdrew citing professional reasons.
Lora had prior participation in the process, representing Carmen Magalys Medina Sánchez, former vice president of Fonper and sister of the main defendant, who was acquitted by the court that heard the trial on the merits.
Although the appeal resources were filed between January 30 and February 5, they have not yet been sent to the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the National District.
Once received, the president of that instance, Julio César Cano Alfau, must conduct a random draw to assign the process to one of the three chambers that make up the Court.
In that phase, both the appeal filed by Medina and his companies and the appeals presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office and other convicted parties will be known.
Condemnation and appeals
The court that issued the sentence, composed of judges Claribel Nivar Arias, Yissel Soto and Clara Castillo, found Medina guilty of bribery, money laundering and association of wrongdoers.
In addition to the seven-year prison sentence, he was ordered to pay a fine equivalent to 150 minimum wages and the seizure of assets in favor of the State.
The Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for the Prosecution of Administrative Corruption (Pepca) also appealed the decision, considering that the sanction imposed does not correspond to the magnitude of the damage attributed to the accused. The Public Ministry had requested 20 years in prison, alleging that the scheme had defrauded the State of more than five billion pesos between 2012 and 2020.
Furthermore, the prosecuting body appealed the sentences and dismissals of other individuals involved, both those convicted and acquitted, in a process that continues to generate public expectation and is now entering a new judicial stage before the Court of Appeals of the National District
Nacional.
