I was convicted of that crime of which I am innocent, said Orpis.
Former conservative Senator Jaime Orpis has been bestowed Friday with the dubious honour of becoming Chile s first-ever politician to be handed down a jail sentence for his involvement in acts of corruption.
Orpis, of the ultra-conservative Independent Democratic Union (UDI) party, of the current government coalition of President Sebastián Piñera, was sentenced to five years for the crime of tax fraud and 600 days for bribery, as per a lengthy ruling from the nation s Third Oral Court.
He was found guilty of receiving money in 2013 from the then manager of the company Corpesca - Chile s largest fishing company - in exchange for favouring it during the processing of a new fishing law.