Former senator Erico Galeano, currently held at the National Pretrial Detention Center (formerly Tacumbú prison), has filed a constitutional challenge with Paraguay's Supreme Court against the judicial decisions that sentenced him to 13 years in prison for money laundering and criminal association. The defense, led by attorneys Luis Almada and Ricardo Estigarribia, seeks to nullify the rulings handed down by the Trial Court and the Specialized Court of Appeals.
In the petition, Galeano claims the rulings violate Articles 9, 16, 17, 137, and 256 of the National Constitution, as well as principles such as the presumption of innocence, criminal legality, culpability, the right to a defense, and the requirement that judicial decisions be properly reasoned. The defense argues that the Court of Appeals, by upholding the conviction in May 2026, turned reasonable doubt into a tool for conviction, reversing the in dubio pro reo principle.
The former senator also criticizes the reasoning behind Judge Camilo Torres's vote, which allegedly endorsed the ruling formally without providing independent grounds, turning the two-tier jurisdiction into an “institutional fiction.” The defense points out that Judge Paublino Escobar Garay's vote does not refute the complete absence of Galeano's name in the wiretaps of Operation A Ultranza Py, and that only 4 of the 62 flights linked to Miguel Insfrán and Sebastián Marset were carried out by the ZP-BHQ aircraft, owned by the former senator.
Another contested point is the application of the criminal association offense in the form of “providing logistical support.” The defense argues that the Court, in the same paragraph where it denies the requirement of specific knowledge of each flight, acknowledges that this form requires “knowledge and intent” to facilitate the group's activity, creating an internal contradiction. It further claims that Marset's presence as an amateur player at Club Deportivo Capiatá, chaired by Galeano, is consistent with the hypothesis of innocence, since the investigation into the drug trafficker was under seal until February 2022.
The constitutional challenge adds to the extraordinary cassation appeal already filed with the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court. The defense requests that the rulings of the Court of Appeals and the Trial Court be declared null and seeks a stay on the execution of the sentence. Galeano was convicted as part of Operation A Ultranza Py, one of the largest investigations into drug trafficking and money laundering in Paraguay.