Salvadoran minister in talks to plead guilty

[Judi Lynn]

May 20, 2005, 11:07PM

Salvadoran minister in talks to plead guilty
Sitting behind bars here, he faces a 10-year sentence in passport case
By EDWARD HEGSTROM
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle



Associated Press file
Edgar Lopez Bertrand
Salvadoran televangelist Edgar Lopez Bertrand has entered negotiations to plead guilty of lying on a passport application, his attorney indicated in court Friday.

The minister will remain detained in Houston during the negotiations between his attorney and the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, which are expected to take about two weeks. The agreement must then be approved by the U.S. attorney in Houston, after which Lopez Bertrand would be sentenced here.

Federal guidelines call for a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Lopez Bertrand, 65, a San Salvador-based minister with a television station and ties to the Salvadoran president, was arrested at Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday while en route to Israel.

A complaint filed in Washington, D.C., alleges that in 1995, Lopez Bertrand submitted a false Salvadoran birth certificate to apply for a passport for a 10-year-old girl he claimed as his daughter. He later admitted she was not his biological or adoptive daughter, the complaint said.
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