Webb sentencing delayed for 8th time, Marin gets four years in joint indictment

Former Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA) President Jeffrey Webb will have his sentencing for fraud, racketeering, and money laundering charges delayed for an eighth time.

The former CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President’s attorneys wrote to United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen Monday (20 August) stating the following:

“We write to respectfully request that his (Jeffrey Webb) sentencing date, currently September 7th 2018, be adjourned for approximately six months to a date that is convenient for the Court.”

In 2016, Webb plead guilty to sevens charges including racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in November 2015. In 2016, Webb was banned from football for life by FIFA’s Ethics Committee.

No date was given by the US District Attorney’s Office for the new sentencing. The case is being tried in Eastern New York.

Marin gets four years

Former Brazilian soccer federation president José Maria Marin was sentenced Wednesday (22 August) in federal court in Brooklyn, by United States District Judge Pamela K. Chen to four years’ imprisonment following his trial convictions of conspiratorial racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering offenses. The crimes of conviction related to Marin’s participation in schemes to accept millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for the media and marketing rights to various soccer tournaments. The Court also ordered Marin to pay $3,335,593 USD in forfeiture and imposed a fine of $1,200,000 USD. A hearing on victim restitution is scheduled for October 4, 2018.

At the time of his arrest in May 2015, Marin was the former head of the Brazilian soccer federation, known as the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol, or CBF, a member of various FIFA standing committees, and a representative to CONMEBOL, the confederation responsible for soccer in South America. Marin was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud conspiracy and two counts of money laundering conspiracy following a six-week trial in November and December of 2017.

“At each point along the food chain, these soccer officials had their fingers in the pot because they made millions of dollars, thinking no one noticed,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. “But they’ve each reached the point where they got caught, and now they’re facing justice for their crimes. Today’s sentencing of Mr. Marin is just one step in a wide-ranging investigation of these corrupt officials, and shows the FBI and our law enforcement partners are continuing our pursuit of those who used the game of soccer to pad their bank
accounts.”