Two former police officers who confessed to the murder of Rio city councillor Marielle Franco have been sentenced to decades in prison for their part in a crime that shook Brazil and cast a harsh spotlight on the links between politics and organised crime.

Ronnie Lessa admitted to firing 14 shots in the 2018 drive-by shooting that killed Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes, 39, and was sentenced to 78 years and nine months. Élcio de Queiroz, who confessed to driving the getaway car, was sentenced to 59 years and eight months.

Lessa and de Queiroz, who were arrested in 2019, had previously signed plea bargains, but the jury in Rio de Janeiro had final word on their guilt.

Prosecutors at the two-day trial had argued each man should be sentenced to the maximum possible 84 years.

The crime was one of the most shocking and high-profile murders in Rio’s history: Franco, a gay Black woman, was a rising political star, and an outspoken critic of police violence and corruption.

Thursday’s verdict offered a measure of solace to her family and supporters, but marked just the first step towards justice: a second trial is yet to come for the men accused of ordering Franco’s death.

Announcing the sentences, Judge Lucia Glioche said: “The jury is a democracy – a democracy which Marielle Franco defended.”

Addressing the two defendants she said: “This sentence is directed at the defendants here, but also at the many Lessas and Queirozes who exist in Rio and remain at large.”

Members of the two victims’ families hugged each other as the sentence was declared.

More details soon …