Former colonel gets 54-year term for massacre in Colombia
By CESAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer
Wed May 7, 11:21 PM ET
CALI, Colombia - A judge on Wednesday gave a 54-year prison term to a cashiered army lieutenant colonel who was convicted of ordering the massacre of 10 elite anti-drug police in an ambush on a lonely country road.
Judge Edmundo Lopez also slapped near-maximum sentences of 52 years on the unit's second-in-command, and 50 years each on the other 13 soldiers convicted of participating in the May 22, 2006 slaughter.
A motive was not determined in the case though senior police officials told The Associated Press they believe former Lt. Col. Byron Carvajal and his troops had been protecting a drug lord.
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There were numerous attempts to subvert the trial, including an auxiliary prosecutor's offer to help the defense in exchange for more than US$400,000 (euro260,000), senior police officials and prosecutors familiar with the case told The Associated Press. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing investigations, said the bribe was never paid and the prosecutor was removed from the case.
"One thing is clear. It was a massacre related to organized criminals," chief prosecutor Mario Iguaran told the AP in February.
Carvajal was found to have ordered the ambush in the town of Jamundi in western Colombia, where an informant had told police they would find at least 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of cocaine at a psychiatric center. When police pulled up, the soldiers cut them down with 420 bullets and seven grenades. No drugs were found and the informant was also gunned down.
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