With punishment to Bretas, Car Wash adds 10 judges and prosecutors sanctioned by the CNJ

Punished in three administrative proceedings by the National Council of Justice (CNJ), the former Judge of the 7th Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Bretas, became the tenth member of Operation Lava-Jato to be the subject of sanctions for his performance in the judiciary.

When he was compulsorily retired, the highest foreseen penalty, Bretas joined other magistrates and prosecutors who also had their conduct questioned and ended up in the sights of the CNJ or the National Council of the Public Prosecution Service (CNMP).

Lava-Jato, which was peaked between 2014 and 2017, was considered the largest operation to combat corruption in the country’s history. Responsible for revealing schemes for embezzling public resources in state -owned companies, such as Petrobras, and involving politicians from various parties, the operation was also the target of intense criticism in the following years, especially for alleged excesses and violations of legal guarantees committed by its members.

Since 2018, advice such as CNJ and CNMP have been investigating the performance of names linked to the operation. In addition to those already sanctioned, the GLOBE He raised that at least 20 people still respond to disciplinary processes and many have been filed over the last few years, without punishment.

This is the case of the former Judge of the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, Sergio Moro, who gained national notoriety during the operation. Currently senator by União Brasil, Moro had 31 lawsuits and was never punished by the CNJ.

– With the request for dismissal, Sergio Moro ceased to have any bond with the CNJ. If he still used the toga, he would hardly escape a removal – evaluates Thiago Jordace, a doctor of law from UERJ.

On Tuesday, the CNJ unanimously decided to compulsorily retire Bretas. He had been removed since 2023. Among the charges, he responded for negotiating penalties, pressuring investigated, directing award -winning allegations, interfering with elections, and committing functional abuse.

Despite punishment, it will maintain earnings proportional to the length of service. The decision has immediate effect, although the defense may still appeal to the Federal Supreme Court (STF). On social networks, Moro went out in defense of Bretas and even suggested a softer sentence.

Political way

Already former attorney Deltan Dallagnol (Novo), who also entered politics but had the mandate of deputy revoked, did not have the same outcome as Moro. In 2019 and 2020, Dallagnol was the target of two sanctions, both considered lighter than the one applied to Bretas.

The first, a warning, was imposed after the then prosecutor criticized the Supreme Court in an interview, suggesting that the court was a message of leniency in relation to corruption. The following year, Dallagnol received the censorship sanction-the second most serious for a prosecutor-for Twitter publications against Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL). He said Calheiros’s election to the Senate presidency could compromise the house’s anti -corruption agenda. The senator was defeated by David Alcolumbre (Union-AP).

After leaving office, the Pads still reverberated in their political trajectory. His cassation, determined by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), was based on the argument that he made his position aware that 15 procedures could become PADs and result in more severe punishment.

Dallagnol requested exemption 16 days after CNMP apply the penalty of resignation to colleague Diogo Castor de Mattos, responsible for installing a billboard in honor of Lava-Jato in Curitiba.

“The defendant acted to defraud the law by practicing a capkious and deliberate manner a number of acts to obstruct disciplinary administrative procedures against him and thus eliminate his ineligibility,” said Minister Benedito Gonçalves at the time.

Dallagnol denies the accusations. Beaver of Mattos was fired in 2021. Two years later, however, he was acquitted and reinstated his career.

Other members of the task force also faced sanctions. Prosecutor Eduardo El Hage, coordinator of Lava-Jato in Rio, was removed for 30 days. He and ten other professionals were accused of publicizing sensitive information. Only El Hage and Gabriela Goes, who was pointed out as responsible for the publication on the MPF website, were punished. The others were acquitted. This PAD should prescribe later this year, but has been without movement since August 2023.

Departure cases

The slowness in the internal procedures is repeated in other cases still under the analysis of the councils, such as the 12 prosecutors accused by moneymaker Claudio Souza to force him to establish an award-winning report. According to the Professor of Constitutional Law at PUC-Rio, Thiago Varela, the slowness in proceedings is partly due to the vitality of judges and members of the Public Prosecution Service:

– Judges and prosecutors may be punished for irregularities, but cannot be dismissed, and compulsory retirement is the most severe penalty. The loss of office only occurs after criminal conviction with res judicata – he says.

Among the magistrates, the most recurring punishment was the temporary removal. Judges Carlos Eduardo Thompson Flores Lenz and Loraci Flores de Lima, both from TRF-4, and judges Gabriela Hardt and Danilo Pereira, who succeeded Moro at the 13th Federal Court of Curitiba, were removed in 2024.

The CNJ understood that there was “atypical direction of the resources obtained with the approval of collaboration and leniency agreements exclusively for Petrobras”, as well as non -compliance with STF decisions. Subsequently, however, it turned back.

Also from the Curitiba Court, Judge Eduardo Appio was removed in 2023 for allegedly threatening the son of a TRF-4 judge. He has not yet returned to duties

Outside the scope of the councils, Judge Francisco Barros Dias, of the TRF of the 5th Region, was sentenced to 38 years in prison for an alleged sentence sales scheme linked to Car Wash. In 2023, he was acquitted.