Once-powerful Colombia drug lord sentenced in NY

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

hOnce-powerful Colombia drug lord sentenced in NY
By LARRY NEUMEISTER

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK — One of Colombia's once most feared drug lords was sentenced Wednesday to more than 31 years in prison, after telling the judge he only sold drugs to help his people and apologizing to Americans for harming so many of them with cocaine.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman sentenced Diego Murillo to 31 years and three months in prison and ordered him to pay $4 million in fines for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

Human rights groups have claimed Murillo is responsible directly or indirectly for hundreds of murders and Reporters Without Borders has named him the world's No. 6 "predator" of journalists, ranking him worse than Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe or Kim Jong Il of North Korea.

Murillo, 48, a Colombian citizen, described himself to Berman as a benevolent man who used the sale of drugs to generate money to protect his people from Communist aggression. His comments in Spanish were relayed to the judge by an interpreter.


Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/US_Colombian_Warlord.html

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Diego Fernando Murillo-Bejarano, "Don Berna"

Leader of Colombian Terrorist Organization AUC Sentenced to 375 Months in Prison for Cocaine Trafficking

NEW YORK, April 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lev L. Dassin, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced the sentencing today of Diego Fernando Murillo-Bejarano, a/k/a "Don Berna," a/k/a "Don Bernardo," a/k/a "Adolfo Paz," the former leader of the Autodefensas Unidas De Colombia (AUC), a Colombian paramilitary group designated by the U.S. Department of State as a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman sentenced Murillo-Bejarano to 375 months in prison for conspiring to import multi-ton quantities of cocaine into the United States. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Berman fined Murillo-Bejarano $4 million.

According to the indictment to which Murillo-Bejarano pleaded guilty, and statements made during his plea and sentencing proceedings:

The AUC is a right-wing paramilitary organization based in Colombia engaged in armed conflict with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), Colombia's main left-wing guerilla group. To support its terrorist paramilitary activities and to enrich its leaders, the AUC is involved in narcotics trafficking, and is responsible for the importation of multi-ton quantities of cocaine into the United States. Among other things, the AUC oversaw the transportation of cocaine by sea, via speedboats and cargo vessels, from Colombia to the United States, either directly or through third countries. Murillo-Bejarano held the title of Inspector General of the AUC, but was the de facto leader of the organization, in charge of its narcotics-trafficking activities, including all of its cocaine transportation and financial operations. Murillo-Bejarano maintained his power in the AUC in part from the proceeds of his drug-trafficking activities.

The cocaine shipped to the United States by the AUC generated millions of dollars in New York and other cities in the United States. At the direction of individuals working under the supervision of Murillo-Bejarano's organization, these sums were placed in bags or suitcases and exchanged at pre-arranged locations to allow the repatriation of the narcotics proceeds to Colombia while concealing the illicit nature of the funds.

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