A Brazilian man, Nelson Ribeiro Fonseca Junior, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for his involvement in the January 8, 2023 riots in Brasília, including the theft of a football autographed by Neymar from the country’s Congress.

The 34-year-old was convicted by Brazil’s Supreme Court on multiple charges, including theft, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, armed criminal association, and attempting a coup. The ruling was delivered on Monday night.

Ribeiro admitted to taking the ball, which had been a gift from Neymar’s boyhood club, Santos, to the Chamber of Deputies in 2012. His defense claimed he found the ball on the Congress floor during the chaos and took it for safekeeping, handing it over to police 20 days later.

However, Justice Alexandre de Moraes rejected the defense, ruling that Ribeiro had “actively participated” in the storming and destruction of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace. The justice emphasized that the stolen football, once displayed in a congressional corridor, was a “public good belonging to the public heritage” of Brazil.

Ribeiro is one of over 500 individuals convicted in connection with the violent demonstrations by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro. The riots occurred one week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in, following his narrow victory over Bolsonaro in the October 2022 elections.

Protesters, many of them demanding military intervention, stormed government institutions in a bid to overturn the election results. Bolsonaro, who was in the United States at the time, is accused of orchestrating the attempted power grab. He is currently facing trial for allegedly plotting to prevent Lula from assuming office—a plan prosecutors claim only failed due to a lack of military support. Bolsonaro denies the allegations.