Pele’s son turns self in for Brazil prison sentence

TIL Desk Sports/ The son of football legend Pele turned himself in late Friday after being ordered by a Brazilian court to begin serving a nearly 13-year prison sentence for money laundering and drug trafficking. Edson “Edinho” Cholbi do Nascimento, who briefly played for his father’s former club Santos, had so far avoided serving time while his case underwent a lengthy appeals process.

But on Thursday a judge reaffirmed the conviction, reduced Edinho’s original 2014 sentence from 33 years to 12 years and 10 months, and ordered him to begin serving time. The 46-year-old former goalkeeper spoke to reporters before turning himself in at a police station in the Brazilian port city of Santos.

“There’s great frustration because I am being accused of money laundering, but I never did that,” he said. Edinho — who was accused of laundering based on phone tap evidence — has said he will continue to fight the allegations and that his only contact with drug traffickers was as a drug user.