June 17 (UPI) — Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court convicted former federal lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, and sentenced him to four years and two months in prison for coercion during judicial proceedings.

The decision was adopted unanimously by the four justices of the First Panel of the country’s highest court and establishes that the sentence must initially be served under a semi-open regime. Bolsonaro must also pay a fine of approximately 150,000 reais, or about $30,000.

According to Brazilian media reports, the conviction also entails the loss of his political rights under Brazil’s Clean Record Law, preventing him from running for office for at least eight years.

CNN Brasil reported that the total period of ineligibility could exceed 12 years, as it would begin to be counted after completion of the prison sentence.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the case’s rapporteur, said Eduardo Bolsonaro moved to the United States in February 2025 with the goal of promoting sanctions against Brazilian justices and pressuring the judiciary in an attempt to influence proceedings involving his father.

“It is not the role of a Brazilian federal lawmaker to lobby abroad against his own country,” De Moraes said during the session, according to Folha de S.Paulo.

According to CNN Brasil, Brazil’s Office of the Prosecutor General presented social media posts, public statements and conversations extracted from Jair Bolsonaro’s cellphone as evidence that Eduardo Bolsonaro acted to threaten members of the Supreme Federal Court and interfere in investigations related to the alleged coup plot.

The network also reported that prosecutors presented a conversation in which Eduardo advised his father to avoid statements that could undermine the efforts he was carrying out in the United States.

Eduardo Bolsonaro currently resides in the United States and did not attend the trial in person.

CNN Brasil reported that the former lawmaker did not appoint private attorneys for his defense or participate in the collection of testimony and was therefore represented by the Federal Public Defender’s Office.

The defense argued that Bolsonaro’s activities in the United States constituted legitimate political action and challenged the legality of the proceedings, alleging that he was never properly notified.

However, the justices rejected those arguments. According to CNN Brasil, De Moraes said Bolsonaro’s official registered address was in Brazil and that, after authorities failed to locate him, the court resorted to service by public notice, as provided under Brazilian law.

After the ruling was announced, Eduardo Bolsonaro described the proceedings as a “senseless trial” and argued that the decision is intended to remove him from Brazilian political life.

In a post published in English on his X account on Wednesday, Bolsonaro called on President Donald Trump to reimpose sanctions against Alexandre de Moraes.

“The world needs to know what is happening in Brazil,” the former lawmaker wrote, describing Moraes as an “authoritarian figure” and claiming he had been convicted for denouncing alleged human rights violations committed by the justice.

In a video posted on the same social media platform after the sentence was announced, Bolsonaro said he had been convicted because of the activities he carries out in the United States and reiterated that he was never formally notified of the proceedings.

The former lawmaker said Brazilian authorities know his residence in Dallas, Texas, and asserted that he learned about developments in the case through press reports.

He also questioned De Moraes’ participation in the trial, arguing that the justice acted simultaneously as both victim and judge in the case, a criticism previously raised by his defense during the proceedings.

The ruling can still be appealed before the Supreme Federal Court.

The conviction marks another legal setback for the Bolsonaro family.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced last year to 27 years in prison for his role in an alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2022 election, in which he was defeated by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The decision also comes amid Brazil’s 2026 presidential campaign, in which Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, Eduardo’s brother, is considered one of the leading figures on the right seeking to challenge President Lula in the October election.