A Brooklyn federal judge overturned the conviction of a one-time high-ranking 21st Century Fox executive in a multi-million dollar scheme to land South American soccer broadcasting rights — just five months after a jury found him guilty.
Herman Lopez, the former Chief Executive Officer of Fox International Channels, was cleared along with co-defendant Full Play sports marketing in the 55-page Friday decision by Judge Pamela Chen in the high-profile prosecution.
The defendants were convicted on March 9 of wire fraud and money-laundering charges on the fourth day of jury deliberations in the case dating back to 2015.
“The court concludes … the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain Defendants’ honest services wire fraud convictions … because the statute does not apply to foreign commercial bribery schemes,” wrote Chen. “The court therefore grants defendants’ motions to acquit on all counts of conviction.”
Lopez, who lives in Los Angeles, was free on $15 million bond after he was found guilty.
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is reviewing the decision,” said spokesman John Marzulli on Saturday.
Chen also denied Lopez’s request for a new trial if her ruling was vacated or reversed. And she repeatedly cited the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Joseph Percoco, one-time top aide to then Gov. Andrew Cuomo, where he was cleared on a conviction for accepting a bribe while working on the governor’s campaign.
The court ruled that jury instructions in the case failed to properly address the fact that Percoco was not on the state payroll at the time of the alleged crime.
“In light of the Supreme Court’s guidance, this court is compelled to reverse its previous ruling regarding its scope and find that the honest services wire fraud statute does not encompass foreign commercial bribery as charged against defendants,” read the decision.
The defendants were charged with participating in an “intricate scheme to pay bribes and kickbacks” in return for landing marketing and broadcasting rights for regional soccer tournaments, said prosecutors. A third defendant, ex-Fox executive Carlos Martinez, was acquitted in the case.
The prosecution stretched back eight years to the indictments of nine FIFA officials and five sports media executives for their alleged participation in bribery schemes related to the broadcast rights to international soccer tournaments.
The trial of Lopez and his co-defendants played out across seven weeks, with star prosecution witness Alejandro Burzaco testifying for 11 days. The one-time Latin American television soccer executive laid out the plot in detail during his stay on the witness stand.
According to Burzaco, he helped pay out $32 million in bribes to ensure Fox Latin America would gain exclusive rights to local soccer games. He also said Full Pay bribed officials with the South American football federation known as CONMEBOL.
The witness, who pleaded guilty in 2017 before flipping, also alleged that FOX CEO Rupert Murdoch sent along a letter of thanks for their efforts in locking down the soccer broadcasts.
Defense attorneys argued he was lying on the witness stand to cover his own actions and land a lesser sentence after his guilty pleas to racketeering conspiracy and other charges.
