Former Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca has walked free after completing a 10-year prison sentence for embezzling and laundering public funds during his time in office. Saca, 61, appeared at a court in San Salvador on Thursday to formally report his release following the full fulfillment of his legal obligations.
Defense attorney Mario Machado confirmed that his client served the entire duration of the decade-long sentence behind bars without benefiting from any early-release provisions. Saca governed El Salvador from 2004 to 2009 as a member of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance, known as ARENA. Before entering politics, he worked as a businessman and radio broadcaster.
Legal proceedings against Saca began with a dramatic high-profile arrest in 2016 while he was attending his son’s wedding. In September 2018, a court sentenced him to five years in prison for embezzlement and an additional five years for money laundering. The 10-year total was secured through a plea bargain that enabled the former leader to bypass a potential 30-year prison term.
During the initial corruption trial, state prosecutors presented evidence showing that Saca had systematically diverted more than $300 million from government accounts. Testimony and investigative findings revealed that the funds were funneled into private pockets and personal accounts, including over $7 million allocated directly to his former political party. In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Saca to repay $260 million to the Salvadoran state.
Subsequent legal troubles added to his conviction record. In 2019, Saca was found guilty of attempting to obstruct justice by offering a $10,000 bribe to a court employee in exchange for confidential information regarding an ongoing investigation against him. A judge later ruled that this secondary sentence would run concurrently as part of his existing 10-year imprisonment.
Saca’s release places him among a small group of former Salvadoran heads of state who have faced public corruption prosecutions. His immediate successor, Mauricio Funes, fled the country for Nicaragua in September 2016 to evade similar legal scrutiny and remained in exile until his death in 2025.
