U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami has sentenced Marcelo Reyes Lopez, an in-house lawyer for PetroEcuador, to 53 months in prison for laundering bribe money. PetroEcuador is the state-owned oil company in the South American country.

Reyes Lopez could have faced up to 20 years in prison, but he reached a plea deal with prosecutors in April and is cooperating with investigators. On July 23 Williams also ordered him to pay a $30,000 fine and to forfeit six properties he owned in South Florida valued at more than $4 million, which was part of his plea deal.