The Supreme Court of Justice upheld the five-year prison sentence against former federal prosecutor from San Francisco (Córdoba) Luis María Viaut, who was accused of taking bribes to halt investigations and exert influence in various judicial cases. Judges Horacio Rosatti, Carlos Rosenkrantz, and Ricardo Lorenzetti deemed the appeal filed by the former official's defense inadmissible, as it attempted to challenge the sentence on the grounds that it was arbitrary and violated the right to impartiality. In 2022, the Oral Court in Criminal and Federal Matters No. 2 of Córdoba convicted Viaut to five years in prison for the crimes of influence peddling and aggravated extortion. In the same trial, other individuals linked to the case were also convicted. Meanwhile, Gerardo Panero and Walter Gustavo Fattore were considered secondary participants in influence peddling and received six months of conditional probation. Additionally, Víctor Brugnoni was sentenced to two years in prison as the perpetrator of active bribery. According to the investigation, in a case handled by the San Francisco prosecutor's office, Viaut requested through Rivarola the payment of 2.5 million pesos from the manager and president of the dairy cooperative Las Cañitas, located in the Córdoba town of El Tío, to "shelve" the file and stop an imminent procedure. In another episode, Brugnoni contacted Rivarola via Fattore and Panero to influence officials investigating his son for sexual offenses. In this context, he offered 250,000 dollars, of which he paid 17,100. During the trial, the prosecution argued that Viaut abused his public office and position of power, harmed the Las Cañitas cooperative and the El Tío community, and defrauded the expectations derived from his role within the justice system. The Oral Court also ordered the special perpetual disqualification for holding public office and a fine of six million pesos. The defense appealed the sentence, but the I Chamber of the Federal Court of Criminal Cassation confirmed it by majority. After a new appeal, the Supreme Court dismissed the motion and left the conviction in force. Dario Rivarola, a prosecutor's employee who was under Viaut's command, received three years of conditional probation as a co-author of the crimes. The Public Prosecutor's Ministry's Trial Court also resolved to remove Viaut from his office based on the evidence presented in the oral trial.
