<
>

Ronaldinho granted house arrest after month in Paraguayan jail

Ronaldinho has been placed on house arrest after spending the past month in a Paraguayan jail for attempting to enter the country with an altered passport.

Judge Gustavo Amarilla granted the motion after the fourth request to review the case from the former Brazil and Barcelona star's lawyer and a bail payment of $1.6 million.

-- Stream new episodes of ESPN FC Monday-Friday on ESPN+
-- Stream every episode of 30 for 30: Soccer Stories on ESPN+

The 2002 World Cup winner will be placed under police custody at a hotel in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion.

Ronaldinho, 40, and his brother, Roberto Assis (who is also his business manager), entered the country on March 4 with falsified passports, even though residents of Brazil do not need passports to enter their landlocked neighbor.

Although not initially arrested, they were told to remain in their hotel suite in Asuncion while authorities investigated the matter. Two days later, they were in jail, with a judge denying them bail and refusing to release them into house arrest, saying the brothers posed a flight risk.

The probe into the falsified passports has expanded into an investigation into possible money laundering.

Sources have told ESPN that Ronaldinho was "loved" by his fellow prisoners at the jail, where he spent most of his time in a cell. Daily activities included playing football with the inmates and the employees and attending a carpentry course.

Sources added that Ronaldinho was "relaxed" in prison, though he missed being able to play music, one of his favorite hobbies.