In brief: Mubarak sentenced to 3 years in prison

CAIRO – An Egyptian court Saturday sentenced former President Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison in a retrial on charges of corruption.

The Cairo Criminal Court also gave a similar sentence to each of his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and ordered the three to pay a fine of $16.4 million.

The court also ordered Mubarak and his sons to return $2.7 million they were convicted of having embezzled.

The case is linked to charges that Mubarak and his sons spent more than $12 million of state money on their private residences.

The ruling can be appealed, legal experts said.

Mubarak was carried by helicopter to a Cairo army hospital where he has stayed in recent months, a security official said.

Mubarak’s sons were taken to a prison near Cairo until prosecutors determine if they can be released for prison time already served.

Corruption ousts vice president

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala’s once-powerful vice president formally lost her post Saturday as the congress accepted her resignation, leaving office amid a customs corruption scandal that has implicated her former private secretary.

In a letter released late Friday, Roxana Baldetti said the move means she is giving up her immunity from possible prosecution and promised “to collaborate with all investigations” into the graft scheme. She has denied any involvement in the alleged bribery.