Supreme Court Convicts Eduardo Bolsonaro, Sentences Him to 4 Years and Bars Him From Office

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court on Tuesday convicted Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, sentencing him to 4 years and 2 months in prison in a semi-open regime and barring him from public office for eight years in a case tied to allegations that he tried to enlist U.S. pressure on Brazil’s judiciary.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former congressman, was convicted of coercion in the course of a judicial proceeding, a charge tied to attempts to interfere with an ongoing case. The ruling by the court’s First Panel was unanimous and can be appealed. In addition to the prison term and political ineligibility, Agência Brasil reported that the court also ordered the loss of his position as a federal police clerk.

According to Agência Brasil’s account of the judgment, the justices agreed with the Prosecutor-General’s Office that Eduardo Bolsonaro worked to spur U.S. measures against Brazil — including tariffs on Brazilian exports, visa restrictions aimed at Brazilian authorities and Magnitsky-related sanctions — to pressure the court and help his father avoid conviction in a separate coup-plot case. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the relator, said Eduardo Bolsonaro’s role “is not to lobby overseas against his own country,” according to AP. At the hearing, the prosecution was presented by Deputy Prosecutor-General Antônio Edílio Magalhães Teixeira, who argued: “Parece que é uma situação relativamente simples. Coagir autoridade judicial é crime de coação.”

The case carries an immediate political penalty, but the prison sentence may be harder to enforce in practice. Eduardo Bolsonaro has been living in the United States since 2025, according to the reporting, and he lost his seat in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies in December 2025 after missing sessions while abroad. Agência Brasil reported that, in practice, he is unlikely to serve the sentence while he remains in the United States, though the decision itself is still subject to appeal.

His defense at the session was handled by the Defensoria Pública da União, through federal public defender Esdras dos Santos Carvalho, who argued that Eduardo Bolsonaro had no decision-making power over U.S. foreign policy and had merely engaged in political interlocution. As Carvalho put it, “Eduardo não teve poder decisão sobre a política externa dos Estados Unidos, não integra o governo norte-americano e não exerce função pública naquele país.”

The case is politically significant because it centers on an alleged attempt by a prominent member of the Bolsonaro family to influence proceedings involving the former president. Jair Bolsonaro was convicted in 2025 and sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison in the so-called coup-plot case, the proceeding prosecutors said Eduardo Bolsonaro was trying to affect through foreign pressure.