Former Guatemalan leader pleads guilty to money laundering in U.S. court

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo pleaded guilty to a charge of money-laundering conspiracy in a federal court in New York today.

“I’m guilty, your honor,” he said through a translator.

U.S. prosecutors had accused Portillo of laundering tens of millions of dollars that they said he embezzled from the Guatemalan government. Portillo was president of Guatemala from 2000 to 2004.

A Guatemalan court cleared him of embezzlement charges in May 2011, but the country’s Supreme Court later endorsed an extradition request from the United States.