Three former high-ranking Costa Rican officials, former Supreme Court magistrate Celso Gamboa-Sánchez, former San José mayor Johnny Araya-Monge, and former prosecutor Berenice Smith-Bonilla went on trial Tuesday for alleged influence peddling, marking the second time they have faced these charges.

Influence peddling, also known as trading in influence, refers to using personal connections or political power to secure favors or preferential treatment, often in exchange for payment or personal benefit.

The defendants appeared before the Criminal Court of Finance in San José, accused of using their positions to manipulate a legal document.

Prosecutors allege the trio intervened in 2016 to ensure Araya’s name did not appear as a suspect in a separate judicial investigation. The alleged maneuver took place just weeks before municipal elections, when Araya was seeking re-election as mayor of San José.

According to the charges, Gamboa and Smith, both prosecutors at the time, worked together to provide Araya with a document stating he had no open criminal cases, shielding him from potential political fallout.

This is the second time the case has reached court. In 2021, a panel of judges acquitted the three due to reasonable doubt.

However, the Public Ministry and Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision, and in 2023, an appellate court annulled the acquittal, ordering a new trial.

The current trial began Tuesday, with a verdict expected in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, Gamboa is facing separate legal trouble. He is being held at Jorge Arturo Montero Prison, commonly known as "La Reforma," in Alajuela province while awaiting a decision on a U.S. extradition request. The U.S. Department of Justice in the Eastern District of Texas has filed unrelated charges against him.

Araya is also under investigation in a different case known as the Diamond Case, in which prosecutors allege private contractors provided benefits to him and other mayors in exchange for municipal contracts for infrastructure improvements.