Lula turns himself in to Brazil police; begins serving 12-year sentence

Leftist icon Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spent today as Brazil's first ex-president to be imprisoned for a common crime - and his cell was in the headquarters of the giant anti-graft probe that brought him down.

The first day of Lula's 12-year sentence marked the downfall of once one of the world's most popular politicians.

Although Brazilian presidents of recent history have routinely ended up in trouble - impeached, brought down by a coup and even one suicide - Lula is the first to have been convicted of corruption and locked up.

His new home is a roughly 160 square foot (15-meter square) cell in the federal police headquarters in Curitiba, the southern city where the "Car Wash" probe is based.

Named after a service station where agents initially uncovered a relatively small money laundering operation, "Car Wash" has turned into one of the worlds biggest ever examples of such a probe, netting scores of top politicians, some of Brazil's richest businessmen, and sending shock waves through Latin America.