A panel of Brazil's Supreme Court convicted Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former lawmaker and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, on Tuesday for courting U.S. interference in his father's coup plot trial. The four justices on the panel each backed the conviction, and Eduardo Bolsonaro was sentenced in absentia to four years and two months in prison for coercion and trying to unlawfully interfere with judicial proceedings.
The office of Brazil's Prosecutor General charged Eduardo Bolsonaro with lobbying U.S. authorities, including urging Donald Trump to impose economic sanctions and tariffs on Brazilian goods, to influence the trial. Prosecutors stated that he threatened judicial authorities by seeking these sanctions if proceedings against Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup after his 2022 election defeat, did not favor him. The U.S. subsequently placed tariffs on Brazilian goods and sanctioned judicial officials involved in the trial.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, who moved to the United States in 2025, has been active in building support for his father from the Trump administration. In a statement following the conviction, he claimed he had not been properly notified about the legal process. He asserted that his work in the U.S. was not aimed at getting his father acquitted, but at forcing the Brazilian Supreme Court to punish officials who he alleged were not complying with the constitution.