Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was released from prison on Wednesday after serving a year in the U.S.

Portillo was serving time after accepting $2.5 million in bribes from Taiwan.

The former president was held at a minimum-security facility in Denver since last year. He was released with time served in Guatemala. He faces no additional charges in his home country.

Portillo left the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, Colorado, took commercial flights to Houston and on to Guatemala City.

Portillo, now 63 years old, was sentenced in federal court in New York City in 2014 to nearly six years in prison for accepting millions in bribes.

He laundered the money through U.S. financial institutions, according to federal prosecutors. They say he threatened the integrity of U.S. banks and made them "a vehicle for moving bad money."
Portillo was Guatemala's president from 2000 to 2004. He left office and moved to Mexico to work as a financial advisor for a construction materials company.

He was extradited to Guatemala in 2008 facing charges of embezzling $15 million from the country's military. He remained free for two years until he was arrested in 2010 and was extradited to the United States. He was acquitted of the embezzlement charge in 2011. He was again extradited to the U.S. in 2013

He pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy in March 2014 for accepting the $2.5 million from Taiwan to continue Guatemala's diplomatic recognition of the island government. He confessed to accepting the money from Taiwan between December 1999 until August 2002.

A crowd of several hundred supporters greeted Portillo at the airport. At a news conference, he expressed his intention to help Guatemala rebuild.

"I am willing to give what little I have in this country that needs to change," Portillo said. "The country is not going well and we are all responsible for this course and these conditions."

Several political parties in Guatemala also expressed interest in working with Portillo.

"Our party's ranks are open to (his) participation," Mario Estrada, secretary-general of the Union of National Change, said after Portillo's release was announced. "What party would not want him, with the level of leadership and experience he has?