An Ecuadorean court sentenced former President Abdala Bucaram to nine years and four months in prison for involvement in a criminal organization that fraudulently sold medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bucaram, 74, may serve the sentence under house arrest because of his age under Ecuadorean law. His son, Jacobo Bucaram, received the same sentence. The case involved four people accused by the Attorney General's Office of gaining financial benefits through the purchase of about 21,000 rapid COVID-19 tests and other medical supplies between March and August 2020. A former traffic officer received 13 years and four months, while an Israeli citizen was sentenced to two years and eight months after cooperating during the trial. Bucaram, who governed from August 1996 to February 1997, attended the hearing by video conference from a Guayaquil hospital, where he is being treated for heart problems. He could still appeal, and his lawyers did not comment.