Federal judge drops charges against ex-Fox executive in soccer corruption prosecution

By LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in Brooklyn agreed Wednesday to dismiss charges against a former Fox executive and South American sports media company in a corruption case related to TV rights for international soccer tournaments.

Judge Pamela K. Chen accepted an explanation provided by U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. that the prosecution of Hernan Lopez “doesn’t fit within” the Trump administration’s prosecutorial priorities.

As a smiling Lopez, the former CEO of Fox International Channels, left the Brooklyn federal courthouse, he told reporters he was relieved that “a case that never should have started is finally over.”

Nocella told Chen that the administration preferred to focus on domestic and foreign terrorist organizations, national security, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and violent gangs.

The judge said Nocella’s reason provided in court, along with an explanation in a written document submitted to the court, “does provide sufficient justification” to accept the request to dismiss the indictment.

Lopez and Full Play Group SA were convicted in 2023 of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to nab broadcasting rights to the World Cup and other top soccer matches. But they were subsequently granted an acquittal by Chen.

An appeals court reinstated the convictions in July, but additional appeals followed and the fate of the prosecution had been uncertain.

Chen said during Wednesday’s hearing that she was not basing her decision to dismiss the indictment “in any way” on her prior decision granting the acquittal.

Prosecutors told the Supreme Court in December that the government has now determined that “dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice,” though they did not expand on their rationale.