Robinho is a former footballer
Regarded as one of the most skilful players of his generation, Robinho shot to fame when he moved to Real Madrid in 2005. As a youngster, he had a relatively successful debut season, scoring 14 goals in 37 appearances.
However, once a footballing superstar, he is now fighting for a second chance as a prisoner. Robinho's fall from grace has been nothing short of dramatic.
The former Manchester City and Brazil forward now lives in an eight-square-meter cell, sharing his days with another inmate while taking on a surprising job behind bars as he seeks to reduce his nine-year sentence for gang rape.
The former footballer was sentenced to nine years in prison in March 2024 after lengthy legal battles, having initially been found guilty of gang rape and sentenced in Italy in 2017.
He was one of six men found guilty of assaulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.
Following his indictment, reports from the Daily Mail indicate Robinho is now held at the infamous Dr José Augusto César Salgado P2 prison in Tremembé, São Paulo, often referred to as ‘the prison of the famous.’
Among its notorious inmates are a father who murdered his daughter, a man serving a 98-year sentence for the kidnapping and killing of a 15-year-old girl, and a former doctor convicted of abusing 39 sedated patients.
Nonetheless, Spanish media Marca has reported that he can reduce his sentence by one day for every 12 hours he works.
As such, he now fixes radios and televisions inside the prison after completing a 600-hour electronics course. In addition to joining the prison’s reading club, Robinho spends time gardening and has finished all 10 modules of a work and citizenship training program.
According to Marca, he shares his cell with a 22-year-old inmate convicted of encouraging another person to self-harm or take their own life but has stayed out of trouble so far, according to his lawyer.
“He keeps his head down and moves forward calmly. He's an exemplary prisoner and hasn't had any problems with other inmates. He keeps busy,” Mario Rosso told Marca.
Italian authorities sought to have him serve his nine-year sentence in Italy, but since he was in Brazil, where the law generally prohibits the extradition of its citizens, he remained there.
At the time of the incident, Robinho was 28 and playing for AC Milan. During his appeal, he admitted to having “contact” with the woman but maintained that it was consensual.
FKA/EK
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