Former Peru soccer chief Manuel Burga awaits fate as US jury set to deliver verdict in Fifa bribery case

Jurors found Juan Napout, of Paraguay, and Jose Maria Marin, of Brazil, guilty on multiple conspiracy charges after a week of deliberations in federal court in Brooklyn. But they told US district judge Pamela Chen that they were divided over a verdict for Manuel Burga, of Peru, on his single racketeering charge. Chen told them to come back and try again after the holiday weekend.

The judge immediately jailed Marin, 85, and Napout, 59, agreeing with prosecutors that if left free, the men had enough connections and wealth to flee the US to avoid prison terms, which she said could be more than 10 years on the top charge alone.

Burga, 60, the former president of Peru’s soccer federation, was allowed to remain free on bail pending the outcome of his case. His lawyer, Bruce Udolf, said his client was hopeful that the jury would clear him.

Marin, Burga and Napout had been arrested in 2015. Prosecutors accused them of agreeing to take millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen seeking to lock up lucrative media rights or influence hosting rights for the World Cup and other major tournaments controlled by Fifa.

The three were among more than 40 people and entities in the world of global soccer charged in the US in connection with an investigation that uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. Many of the other defendants pleaded guilty.