Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo to be released in February

Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo is scheduled to be released from prison in February 2015. Portillo pleaded guilty to accepting $2.5 million in bribes from Taiwan and funneling the money through US banks. While I applaud efforts to hold Portillo accountable, the whole affair really seems to have collapsed.

Portillo was acquitted in a Guatemalan court under what seems to have been suspicious circumstances. He was taken into custody and deported to the US in a manner which some say violated Guatemalan law. He was alleged to have received and/or stolen tens of millions of dollars. Yet, all we now have is his admission to receiving $2.5 and more or less time served. He was only extradited to the US in May 2013 and will be let out less than two years later.

What's next? Run for the Guatemalan Congress?