With the World Cup just weeks away and Brazil set to take center stage, that country's soccer treasure—and arguably the world's best soccer player—Pele will have a heavy heart: His son, Edson Cholbi do Nascimento, known as Edinho, has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for money laundering, The Independent reports.
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According to the news site, Edinho used his father's fame to promote businesses that laundered drug-trafficking money for a cartel that police report shipped cocaine into Rio de Janeiro.
Pele, 73, who won the World Cup three times with the Brazilian team and is an ambassador for Brazilian soccer, has claimed previously that there is not a "a shred of evidence" against his son, The Independent reports.
According to the news site, the 43-year-old Edinho, who played soccer for Santos, the same club where his father was once a superstar, admitted to using drugs but claims that he never trafficked drugs.
Read more at The Independent.
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