SAO PAULO — A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced the former president of the country’s largest construction company to more than 19 years in prison for involvement in a massive corruption scheme at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras.

Judge Sergio Moro, who is heading the Petrobras investigation, sentenced Marcelo Odebrecht to 19 years and four months imprisonment on charges of corruption, money laundering, and belonging to a criminal organization.

Odebrecht is the highest profile executive to be convicted in the investigations.

Prosecutors have said the overall scheme involved more than $2 billion in bribes paid to obtain Petrobras contracts, with some money making its way to political parties, including the governing Workers’ Party. Some of Brazil’s wealthiest people have been caught up in the probe, as have dozens of politicians.

Petrobras, Brazil’s biggest company, is in charge of tapping offshore oil fields and creating wealth that leaders expected would propel the country to developed-world status.

Associated Press