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BRASILIA, July 12-- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison for his involvement in a corruption ring that embezzled billions of U.S. dollars from state oil company Petrobras Brasileiro, official sources said on Wednesday. Federal Judge Sergio Moro found Lula guilty of accepting 3.7 million reais (1.2 million U.S. dollars) worth of bribes from engineering firm OAS SA. The company spent the money refurbishing a beach apartment for Lula in return for his help in winning contracts with Petroleo Brasileiro. Brazil's prosecutor-general had earlier charged Lula on the grounds that the apartment was bought and remodelled for him by OAS S.A. in exchange for political favors. However, while Moro found the former president guilty in the case of the apartment, he absolved him of blame in the storage of his belongings. "The condemned received an illicit benefit due to his position as president of the Republic...the responsibility of a president is enormous and therefore, so is his guilt in the practice of crimes," wrote Moro in his decision. However, the judge avoided sentencing Lula to immediate prison, allowing him to remain free while his appeal is heard. In a testimony given to Moro in May, Lula said that he "never had the intention of buying" the apartment and that his wife, Marisa Leticia, had at one time been interested in buying a small apartment in the same building. | 
