The 5th Panel of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF3) unanimously denied the appeals presented by the defenses and fully upheld the convictions of Gerson Palermo and eight other defendants within the scope of Operation All In, an investigation that dismantled a criminal organization suspected of operating in international drug trafficking.
🔎Launched in 2017, the operation identified a scheme that operated in five states and used the names of third parties, known as “oranges”, to move money and register or transfer assets, such as real estate, vehicles and aircraft. At the time, the investigation showed that the group even used the names of drug users and homeless people to hide their assets.
🔎🔎Gerson Palermo is identified by investigations as leader and coordinator of the criminal organization, which operated in the transnational trafficking of cocaine brought from Bolivia. He was arrested in May 2026, after spending six years on the run, after receiving house arrest.
With the decision of the TRF3, Palermo will continue serving his sentence under an initial closed regime.
The decision is dated September 30th and can be appealed. g1 was unable to contact the defendants' defenses.
What the defenses claimed
The defenses of those convicted presented a series of arguments to try to annul the convictions or question the validity of the process. Among the allegations were:
Nullity of telephone interceptions: questions about the legality of the wiretaps carried out during the investigation.
Incompetence of the Federal Court: argument that the case should not be judged by the Federal Court.
Inadequacy of the complaint and lack of just cause: allegations of failures in the accusation and lack of sufficient elements to support the process.
Restriction of defense and rejection of evidence: questions about possible limitations to the right of defense.
Lack of technical defense: allegation that there was no adequate legal assistance.
Suspicion and partiality of the judgment: questions about the impartiality of the person responsible for the judgment.
Illegality of evidence: challenging the legality of elements used in the conviction.
Lack of justification for preventive detention: argument that the decision that maintained the arrest did not provide sufficient justifications.
What the court decided
Gerson Palermo was arrested in the Santa Cruz de La Sierra region. — Photo: Reproduction
Unanimously, the 5th Panel of the TRF3 dismissed the defenses' appeals and upheld the first instance conviction in full.
The ruling confirmed the legality of the telephone monitoring carried out during the investigation and considered the elements gathered in the process sufficient to support the convictions. As a result, the sentences imposed on the defendants were maintained. See the convictions:
Gerson Palermo
Penalty: 59 years, 9 months and 1 day of imprisonment, in an initial closed regime, in addition to 5,580 fine days
Crimes: International drug trafficking (two seizures), association for international trafficking and money laundering in criminal continuity
Osvaldo Inácio Barbosa Júnior, known as “Juninho”
Penalty: 19 years, 9 months and 27 days of imprisonment, in an initial closed regime, in addition to 2,960 fine days.
Crimes: international drug trafficking and association for international trafficking.
Luiz Carlos Fernandes de Carvalho
Penalty: 16 years and 13 days of imprisonment, in an initial closed regime, in addition to 2,416 fine days.
Crimes: international drug trafficking and association for international trafficking.
Ézio Guimarães dos Santos
Penalty: 9 years, 9 months and 7 days of imprisonment, in an initial semi-open regime, in addition to 1,286 fine days.
Crimes: association for international trafficking and money laundering in criminal continuity.
João Leandro Siqueira
Penalty: 8 years and 3 months in prison, in an initial semi-open regime, in addition to 826 fine days.
Crime: international drug trafficking. He was acquitted of the charge of association for trafficking.
Milton Motta Junior
Penalty: 6 years, 1 month and 15 days of imprisonment, in an initial semi-open regime, in addition to 1,429 fine days.
Crime: association for international trafficking.
Hugo Leandro Tognini
Penalty: 4 years and 8 months in prison, in an initial semi-open regime, in addition to 1,088 fine days.
Crime: association for international trafficking.
Eduardo Peres da Silva
Penalty: 3 years, 10 months and 15 days of imprisonment, in an initial open regime, in addition to a 53-day fine.
Crime: money laundering.
Penalty: the custodial sentence was replaced by the provision of services to the community and monetary benefits equivalent to ten minimum wages.
Antônio Feitosa Neto
Penalty: 3 years' imprisonment, initially open, in addition to a 10-day fine.
Crime: money laundering.
Penalty: imprisonment replaced by provision of services to the community and monetary benefit equivalent to ten minimum wages.
Command of organization and concealment of assets
According to Federal Police investigations, Gerson Palermo commanded the criminal organization and coordinated the transport of large shipments of drugs by air and land.
In addition to planning the logistics of trafficking, he would be responsible for managing the acquisition of aircraft, trucks and properties registered in the name of third parties to hide the assets allegedly obtained through illicit activities.
Court upholds confiscation of assets
In addition to the convictions, the 5th Panel maintained the confiscation of the assets of those investigated. The measure covers aircraft, trucks, trailers, passenger vehicles, properties and the Ocorema Aerodrome, located in Ladário.
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