Sentenced to death by the (Supreme Federal Court) in the wake of the , three residents of had different participation in the episode and one of them, retired Vilamir Valmor Romanoski, 59, was appointed by the (Attorney General’s Office) as someone with a relevant role in the mobilization that preceded the depredation of the headquarters of the Three Powers.
Both Vilamir and businessmen Alcides Hahn, 71, and Rene Afonso Mahnke, 57, were convicted of helping to finance a bus that left Blumenau (SC) on January 5 of that year to take supporters of the former president to the federal capital.
Vilamir, Alcides and Rene contributed different amounts and were not present at the event in Brasília.
While Vilamir transferred just over R$10,000 to finance the protesters’ transportation to Brasília, Rene gave R$1,000 and Alcides made a Pix of R$500 (which would be the equivalent of a single ticket, considering the total cost of R$22,000 for the journey, with 41 passengers).
The three were sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crimes of attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, qualified damage, deterioration of listed property and armed criminal association. This opens up the possibility that they will obtain some reduction in these sentences.
Although they received the same sentence, their involvement in the episode is different, as is the amount of evidence presented by the PGR.
Of the three Santa Catarina people convicted, Vilamir was the first to have the ruling become final (when there is no longer any possibility of appeal), on March 11. He is still awaiting the start of his sentence. Alcides and Rene’s defenses filed motions for clarification — a type of appeal that asks for clarification on the decision — which have not yet been analyzed by the STF.
In relation to Vilamir, the PGR states in the complaint that he recruited people, was involved in organizing and financing the transportation of Bolsonaristas from Santa Catarina to Brasília, in addition to also helping with the maintenance in 2022 of the camp in front of an Army barracks in Brusque (SC) whose flag was to contest a regular electoral process, won by Luiz Inácio da Silva ().
In messages intercepted by the Federal Police during the investigation, Vilamir told a person that the objective of the mobilizations was “to fight until the last second so that the PT doesn’t enter” and further suggested that “there will be no way without blood”. In his view, there were “several signs that there was fraud in the ” and that “Bolsonaro should have won in the first round already.”
Lawyer Leandro Allein, responsible for Vilamir’s defense, told the STF that the businessman defended a peaceful demonstration and that the situation in Brasília had “turned into a riot of old men and women” because there was a deliberate failure in security. He further stated that the STF would not have jurisdiction to deal with his client’s case and that the court had become “an exceptional court to deliberately judge political opponents”.
The defense maintains that liability for the acts of third parties is undue and that there is no proof of criminal association. Regarding the intercepted conversations, the lawyer argued that on all cell phones of government opponents “they will have thoughts against the government” and, in a note to Sheetadded that his client has “a good reputation, having never set foot in a police station and was in the habit of organizing events for charitable purposes.”
According to the PGR, after the attacks on January 8, Vilamir continued to raise money for the protesters to return to their hometowns. Most of the passengers were from Brusque, but there were also protesters from Blumenau, Itajaí and Joinville.
Vilamir has had a special pension since 2015 obtained by court decision, due to the period of exposure to electricity working at the company Celesc Distribuição.
In a note to Sheetthe firm Souto Correa Advogados, responsible for Alcides’ defense, points out that there are cases in which defendants had the possibility of an agreement not to prosecute and maintains that the process “deserves reassessment in light of criteria of proportionality and individualization of conduct”.
As stated in the action, Alcides’ defense argued that the accusation was based only on the Pix receipt of R$500 and that there was no proof that the accused was aware of any illegal purpose.
He also stated that there was no evidence of association, participation in an organization or adherence to anti-democratic acts. He also said that the businessman “rejects the regrettable coup and undemocratic acts perpetrated on January 8, 2023.”
The defense also claims that Alcides has no history of violence or criminal record. Regarding a request for a protective measure presented by his ex-wife in 2025, due to threat, the defense claimed that the case was analyzed by the Judiciary and was not continued. The report was unable to contact his ex-wife.
Alcides has been cited by Bolsonaro politicians who dispute the size of the penalties imposed by the STF, such as federal deputy Domingos Sávio (PL-MG), who called his case absurd: “In practice, do you know what he did? He, who always helped people and entities, made a Pix of R$500”, says the deputy in a video on the social network.
To the STF, the defense of Alcides, who is now a partner in the company H2M Administradora de Bens Ltda, says that he started working at the age of 12 as a packer and that, after his mother’s death, he moved to Corupá at the age of 14. He started at an electrical equipment company and, in 1985, became an entrepreneur.
Rene’s defense, carried out by the firm MMD Advogados, told the STF that the charge against the businessman “is based exclusively on a bank payment of a paltry R$1,000”.
“It’s the entire arsenal of evidence produced against him. Nothing more. And yet, the Public Prosecutor’s Office intends to extract from this single element a set of lessons that would artificially transform him into an integral part of a coup mechanism”, writes the defense.
The defense questions what it sees as weak evidence and the lack of individualization of conduct. It also argues that there would be no proof that the accused joined the coup plot, joined a criminal association, maintained contact with organizers, participated in camps or disseminated anti-democratic content.
Rene owns a traditional wholesale trade of ornamental plants in Corupá.
According to the STF’s decision, the three “subjectively joined the criminal enterprise, contributing in an effective and relevant way to the execution of the crimes, with a connection of intentions with the others involved, in the context of organized and previously structured mobilization, aimed at the practice of violent acts against the constitutional order and public property”.
The report was unable to interview the defendants. Vilamir and Alcides’ defenses were expressed through notes. THE Sheet failed to make contact with Rene’s defense.
