Spain's Supreme Court has upheld but reduced to two years and one month the prison sentence of Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, known as Pequeño Nicolás, for active bribery and disclosure of secrets—his third firm conviction. The cut from over four years, due to 13 years of undue judicial delays, means no individual penalty exceeds two years, allowing his defense to seek suspension considering his total penalties.
Spain's Supreme Court Criminal Chamber ruled on Thursday, confirming the guilt of Francisco Nicolás Gómez Iglesias, 'Pequeño Nicolás,' while reducing the Madrid Provincial Court's original sentence of four years and three months to two years and one month. The reduction applies the highest degree of the mitigating circumstance of undue delays, spanning 13 years (10 in preliminary proceedings and three in trial): one year and six months for bribery, and seven months and one day for disclosure of secrets. None exceeds two years individually, so amid prior final convictions totaling five years, ten months, and 15 days (including one year nine months for forging an ID for the 2012 university exam and two years for impersonating a CNI agent), his defense—led by Juan Carlos Navarro—plans to pay fines and request prison suspension from Madrid's Provincial Court. Now nearing 32, Gómez Iglesias orchestrated a scheme involving Madrid Municipal Police officers Jorge González and Felipe Gallego, plus a Civil Guard member, who supplied confidential police database information such as vehicle owners' identities and addresses (of businessmen, accessible only for official purposes). He used it to impersonate a CNI agent, rewarding collaborators with cash payments arranged via coded messages like 'green lettuces,' 'purple lettuces,' or 'radishes.' The Supreme Court halved the officers' sentences to two years, one month, and 15 days each, and acquitted the Civil Guard officer from the Royal Household and Emilio García Grande, former coordinator of Security and Emergencies at Madrid City Hall. It rejected defense claims of fundamental rights violations, upholding judicial authorizations for searches and phone data.
