Brazil's Federal Police on Friday arrested Marília Ferreira de Alencar, a federal police commissioner and former intelligence official, to begin serving her sentence after her conviction in one branch of the case over the alleged coup plot tied to the aftermath of the 2022 election.
The arrest followed an order from Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes after the defense's latest appeal, an embargo de declaração, was rejected, according to Metrópoles. Alencar was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison, with the sentence formally set to begin under a closed regime.
Moraes nonetheless determined that Alencar will remain under house arrest for an initial 90-day period. Federal Police agents also seized two passports and her official police credentials, measures that signal the transition from a precautionary restriction to the execution of a criminal sentence.
That distinction matters. Alencar had already been under house arrest since December by prior order of Moraes, but that earlier measure was preventive in nature. Under the new ruling, she is now considered to be serving the sentence imposed after conviction.
The case is part of what Brazilian authorities have called "Nucleus 2" of the alleged coup plot, one of the strands in a broader investigation into efforts to overturn or obstruct the transfer of power after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election. The investigation has centered on suspected actions by military officers, former government aides, and security officials before and after the January 8, 2023 attacks on Brazil's capital.
According to the report, four other defendants in the same nucleus were also convicted. Retired Army general Mário Fernandes received 26 years and 6 months. Former Federal Highway Police chief Silvinei Vasques was sentenced to 24 years and 6 months. Retired Army colonel and former presidential aide Marcelo Costa Câmara received 21 years. Filipe Garcia Martins Pereira, a former international affairs adviser to the presidency, was also sentenced to 21 years. Another federal police delegate, Fernando de Sousa Oliveira, was acquitted.
The trial was heard by four justices of the Supreme Court's First Panel: Moraes, who is the rapporteur in the case, along with Flávio Dino, Cármen Lúcia and Cristiano Zanin.
The ruling adds to the legal pressure surrounding figures accused of participating in or facilitating efforts to undermine Brazil's democratic order. Alencar's role, as described in the proceeding cited by Metrópoles, placed her among officials in a security and intelligence orbit scrutinized by investigators examining how state structures may have been used in support of anti-democratic actions.
This is single-source reporting based on Metrópoles. Because no second source was provided, some procedural details, including the full legal reasoning behind the 90-day house-arrest period, remain attributed solely to that outlet.
Source: Metrópoles, "Após ordem de Moraes, PF cumpre mandado e delegada passa a cumprir pena".
accessed on 24 April 2026