Brazilian marketing mogul told judge in FIFA corruption case, 'I repent'

investigation into soccer corruption, told a judge in December that he knew it was wrong to pay bribes but did it regularly from at least as early as 1991, according to court papers unsealed on Wednesday.

"I knew that this conduct was wrong. I repent very much and apologize for what I did," Jose Hawilla, the founder of sports marketing firm Traffic, said during the Dec. 12, 2014 hearing.

A transcript of the hearing, which was not held in public, was among the papers unsealed. Hawilla pleaded guilty at the hearing to four corruption-related counts, telling U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, New York, that bribery had been necessary for Traffic to win contracts with various soccer bodies, including the worldwide governing body FIFA.

The earliest alleged bribe described by Hawilla took place in 1991, when he said "an official associated with FIFA" demanded a bribe for him to sign a contract related to the Copa America soccer tournament. "Even though I didn't want to, I agreed to pay the bribe to that official," Hawilla said at the hearing.

The name of that official was not disclosed in the transcript.

A lawyer for Hawilla said on Thursday that the court papers speak for themselves. Hawilla has not been sentenced, though he has already agreed to forfeit over $151 million and his agreement with U.S. authorities laid out a plan for him to sell his holdings in Traffic.

Hawilla's cooperation with U.S. authorities began by March 2014, according to the court papers, but his involvement and the scope of the U.S. probe did not become public until May of this year. That is when U.S. authorities disclosed the indictment of nine soccer officials and five sports marketing executives on charges they used the sport to enrich themselves.

Hawilla, a former TV journalist, agreed with U.S. authorities to testify at any court proceedings and to keep his cooperation secret from third parties, according to a copy of his cooperation agreement that was among the unsealed papers.