AFP, published Monday 14 November 2022 at 4:41 am
Former Brazilian lawmaker Flordelis dos Santos, known only by her first name, was sentenced Sunday to 50 years in prison for the 2019 murder of her husband.
Famous for adopting around 50 underprivileged children from Rio de Janeiro, Flordelis, 61, and her husband, Pastor Anderson do Carmo, were an influential couple in the burgeoning evangelical Christian movement in Brazil until he died riddled with thirty bullets in their home the suburbs of Rio.
In August 2020, prosecutors charged Flordelis with “staging the murder, inciting (several of his adult children) to participate in the crime and attempting to disguise it as an armed robbery”.
Prosecutors said the alleged motive was to take control of the couple’s finances, which Mr do Carmo, then 42, managed with “tight control”.
Flordelis enjoyed parliamentary immunity but lost it after being ousted by a near-unanimous vote from her peers in August 2021.
The former MP was also accused of attempting to poison her husband at least six times before, according to prosecutors, as well as forgery of documents and armed criminal organization.
Flordelis was elected MP under the banner of the Social Democratic Party (PSD, Conservative) with flying colors in 2018.
Born in a favela in Rio from the slums, the “mama” had four children with Anderson do Carmo, then adopted 50 vulnerable babies, children or teenagers and founded an evangelical community.
Five of the couple’s children and a granddaughter were also charged at the trial.
Simone dos Santos Rodrigues, the former MP’s biological daughter, was sentenced to 31 years in prison on Sunday while everyone else was acquitted.
One of Mr dos Santos’ biological sons, who is accused of being the shooter, and another family member who bought the gun, were convicted a year ago.