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Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis are close to being released from custody in Paraguay after their defence team agreed a plea bargain on Friday.
The public prosecutor’s office in Paraguay asked to close the investigation against the two men and a judge will now schedule a final hearing to confirm the terms.
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The plea bargain included a guilty plea from the two brothers for entering Paraguay with fake passports and fines of $20,000 and $50,000, respectively, for Ronaldinho and Roberto.
Roberto would agree to a criminal record in Paraguay, but Ronaldinho’s record would be clean there.
The plea deal also means the two brothers would agree to remain in Rio de Janeiro and follow rules of conduct set by the Paraguayan courts.
The legal team said that Ronaldinho would comply and would thus delay his planned move to Barcelona.
The public prosecutor has six months to investigate the case and has ordered the arrest of 18 other people in connection with it.
The ex-Brazil and Barcelona forward was arrested in March for entering the country with a false passport. One month later, he and his brother paid $800,000 each in bail and were moved to a luxury hotel in the country’s capital, Asunción, remaining under house arrest. They have been there ever since.
Ronaldinho told local authorities in a hearing that the passports were a gift from a Brazilian businessman, Wilmondes Sousa Liria, who was also jailed.
Last year, Ronaldinho had his Brazilian passport seized at home because of an investigation into alleged environmental crimes, but the document was returned to him in September 2019, and it is still not known why he did not enter Paraguay with his own passport.
Ronaldinho and his brother had faced up to five years in jail if convicted.