[Source: Reuters]

A court in El Salvador sentenced former President Mauricio Funes to six years behind bars for tax evasion, according to a ruling published on Wednesday, marking the second conviction and prison term doled out to the former leftist leader this year.

But Funes now lives in Nicaragua and is a citizen of Nicaragua, a country that does not allow for the extradition of its citizens.

Funes was also ordered to pay more than $200,000 after he was convicted of dodging around $85,000 in taxes dating back to 2014, according to the ruling.

The former president was sentenced earlier this year to 14 years in prison for his links to criminal groups and failure to comply with his duty to protect residents.

David Munguia, a former justice and defence minister, has been sentenced to 18 years behind bars in the same case. At the time of his conviction, Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado stated that both Munguia and Funes acted as gang members by negotiating a truce between criminal groups in exchange for electoral favours.

Funes was president of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014 and was granted Nicaraguan citizenship in 2019.