The Supreme Court has confirmed the sentence of former Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido to four years in prison in connection with the case surrounding the Onse tragedy on February 22, 2012, when a Sarmiento Line train crashed into a platform, killing 52 passengers and injuring 789 others with various serious injuries.
The verdict suggested that the sentence was ready to be carried out, opening up the possibility that former employees of Nestor and Christina Kirchner (who were not jailed in the case) could be sent to prison. Indeed, after the court’s resolution, the Fourth Oral Tribunal (TOF 4), which convicted him, summoned Mr. de Vido to appear before Komodoro Pi on Thursday, with a view to validating his arrest. However, since the defendant is over 75 years old, the defense is expected to seek the benefit of house arrest.
For the Supreme Court’s judges Horacio Rosati, Carlos Rosencrantz and Ricardo Lorenzetti, the former Kirchnerist official would have failed in his duty to control the use of public funds allocated to the Torrenes de Buenos Aires (TBA) and thus was necessarily involved in a crime of maladministration to the detriment of the administration.
In this framework, the judges rejected both the defense’s appeal to acquit De Vido and the prosecution’s appeal to increase his sentence as inadmissible.
The court’s decision not only confirms the former minister’s four-year prison sentence, but also permanently disqualifies him from holding public office, and is a decisive step in the outcome of the judicial process that began after the tragedy that occurred more than 13 years ago.
arrest warrant
As stated, following the court’s decision, TOF 4 summoned de Vido to Komodoro Pi on Thursday with a view to effectuating his detention.
“Based on the decision of the Federal Supreme Court within the framework of the aforementioned file, the sentence imposed on Julio Miguel de Vido has become final and it is appropriate to proceed with its execution in accordance with the provisions of Article 375 of the Federal Code of Criminal Procedure,” Judge Ricardo Basillo ruled in a written statement.The defense is expected to appeal to have the former official benefit from house arrest.
“In accordance with the standards adopted by this court in past interventions, the convicted persons are summoned to appear in court next week at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 13, 2025, to effectuate their arrest,” the resolution added.
However, because this time coincides with the second hearing of the bribery notebook oral trial (in which de Vido is accused of engaging in illegal associations), the court will likely end up summoning de Vido earlier, at 8:30.
The former planning minister was not jailed for the earlier tragedy and was acquitted of negligent destruction charges related to the deaths and injuries caused by the train crash. He was only found guilty of failing to properly manage the use of public funds allocated to Torrenes de Buenos Aires (TBA).
Any punishment that may be imposed on De Wied will be carried out within the framework of the second trial for this cause. The first sentence ended in December 2015 with the conviction of train drivers and former transport secretaries Ricardo Jaime and Juan Pablo Schiavi. Owner and former director of a railway service.
Although Mr. de Vido was not jailed for the tragic Once accident, he was arrested for the first time in October 2017, lost his privileges as a representative of the state, and the judiciary launched an investigation into possible irregularities in the management of public funds related to the Yacimientos Carboniferous Rio Turbio. At that time, he was pre-emptively detained at Marcos Pass Prison while other corruption charges against him progressed.
He was released from prison two years later, spent the next six months at home before regaining his freedom in March 2020, and has not entered prison again since.
After today’s judicial setback, De Vido has a long judicial journey ahead of him, including the Cuadernos and Skanska cases. He also faces possible penalties for fraud in the purchase of abandoned trains and in the acquisition of liquefied natural gas from Spain and Portugal.
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