By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Thursday, the judge of the Criminal Court of San José sentenced the former Ombudsman and former Deputy Ofelia Taitelbaum-Yoselewich, to 96 years in jail after finding her guilty of 32 crimes of using false documents. However, due to the use of the Conditional Execution Benefit of the Penalty, Taitelbaum's sentence was reduced to 9 years in prison.

Conditional Execution Benefit of the Penalty, in this case, was applied because of the court sentence of a three-year jail sentence for each crime. The law allows for reducing the total number of years in jail based on the sum of the three higher sentences, which is equivalent to 9 years in prison.

Masha Taitelbaum-Yoselewich, know as Ofelia, was Ombudsman in Chief of the country from 2009 until 2014, when she had to resign from the position due to this case.

Teitelbaum was also a deputy for the Liberación Nacional political party, from 2006 to 2010.

In her position as Ombudsman or ombudsperson, she represented the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints of mismanagement or a violation of rights. The position is known as the attorney of the people.

Taitelbaum will go to prison until the sentence is confirmed, after analyzing the corresponding appeals presented by her lawyer.

She must comply with precautionary pre-trial measures that are "not leaving the country, submitting her passport to the judicial authorities, and signing a legal document once a month before the judicial authority," said the Prosecutor's office in its statement.

"This is not easy, this is very difficult, but I am calm, my attorney is calm," said Taitembaun after hearing the judge's verdict. "This is like a marathon, and we have just taken the first step, we are moving forward."

According to the case, Taitelbaum was denounced in 2014 by a woman surnamed Otarola, who said that former Ombudsman used her name and her signature to make false documents.

Those documents were proof of payment received for professional services as an adviser for multiple companies. The money she collected was approximately $56,368 over a period of five years.

Since the beginning of the case, Taitelbaum denies having made these documents or having received any payment.

The case will continue in the appeals stage.


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