Man jailed for 17 years after stealing Neymar-signed ball

The Brazilian Supreme Court has sentenced a man to 17 years in prison for stealing a football signed by Neymar from the National Congress during the assault on the three branches of government by thousands of far-right supporters on 8 January 2023, official sources announced on Tuesday.

The sentence against Nelson Ribeiro Fonseca Junior was handed down by the five members of the First Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court after a virtual trial that concluded on Monday, according to the ruling published by the highest court on Tuesday.

In addition to aggravated theft for stealing the ball, the convicted man was found guilty of the crimes of violently abolishing the democratic rule of law, staging a coup d'état, damaging public property, armed association to commit crimes, and aggravated damage.

Ribeiro Fonseca confessed to participating in the assault, with which supporters of now ex-president Jair Bolsonaro attempted to force a coup against the current head of state, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, eight days after his inauguration.

His arrest took place a month after the coup attempts, when he appeared at a police station in the city of Sorocaba, some 860 kilometres from Brasilia, to return the ball and confess his responsibility.

The ball, autographed by the Brazilian international forward, was a gift that a delegation from Santos FC presented to the Chamber of Deputies in 2012 after a solemn session to celebrate the centenary of the Sao Paulo club.

The members of the highest court rejected the defence's arguments that Ribeiro Fonseca seized the ball to protect it amidst the attacks on Congress and that he had therefore returned it a month later.

According to the magistrate in charge of the case, Alexandre de Moraes, the convicted man not only joined a criminal group that sought an institutional rupture, but also encouraged third parties to do the same.

Of the approximately 2,000 Jair Bolsonaro supporters arrested for the coup attempts of 8 January 2023, some 500 have been sentenced to penalties ranging from 13 to 17 years.