The mastermind behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam, Janet Lim-Napoles, was convicted of plunder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 20 to 40 years in jail Friday.
In a verdict that cleared former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., the Sandiganbayan’s First Division convicted his co-accused and former chief of staff Richard A. Cambe and ordered his confinement at the New Bilibid Prison.
READ: Bong acquitted, Janet convicted
Napoles, on the other hand, will be jailed at the Correctional Institution for Women, the court said.
Cambe and Napoles allegedly were in cahoots in funneling the senator’s pork barrel to bogus organizations.
While the Sandiganbayan ordered Revilla, Cambe, and Napoles to return P124.5 million to the government, the former senator’s lawyer, Ramon Esguerra said they would question this order.
“If one is not criminally liable, one cannot be civilly liable,” he said.
Three of the five judges in the First Division voted to acquit Revilla, leading Senator Francis Pangilinan to question how the one who offered the bribe was found guilty while the one who allegedly received it was acquitted.
Napoles’ lawyer said she will appeal her plunder conviction.