ECUADOR’S Vice-President Jorge Glas was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday after his conviction for illicit association in a scheme to accept bribes from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

He was among nine people accused of illicit association and receiving bribes from the company to secure lucrative government contracts.

His defence counsel Eduardo Franco Loor announced that Mr Glas would appeal against the sentence, which he described as “iniquitous” and “barbaric,” while former president Rafael Correa denounced the verdict as condemning “an innocent.”