Peace talks hacker Andres Sepulveda has reportedly accepted a plea deal offered by Colombia’s Prosecutor General to serve only 10 years in prison for several crimes in return for becoming a key prosecution witness.
In the plea deal, Sepulveda will plead guilty to espionage, conspiracy, unauthorized access to communications, coauthoring, and forging identity and serve 10 years in prison.
Sepulveda will also have to hand over evidence showing the involvement of other implicated individuals and assist in the prosecution of those involved. According to W Radio, among the information Sepulveda will have to surrender in a plea deal is evidence of Senator Alvaro Uribe and Ivan Zuluaga’s knowledge of the hacking.
MORE: Colombia ‘peace talks hacker’ blows whistle, implicates military and Uribe in spy scandal
The investigation into the hacker has already resulted in the arrest of a police official, two military officers, and an agent of Colombia’s intelligence agency, according to El Pais newspaper.
Julian Quintana from Colombia’s criminal investigation unit confirmed that it was the Prosecutor General’s hypothesis that the Andromeda intelligence program and Sepulveda were completely related.
MORE: Wiretap suspect had contacts with ‘Andromeda program’ and military intelligence: newspaper
Andromeda is a government intelligence program that made elements of Colombia’s military and intelligence community complicit in illegally hacking Colombia’s peace talks with the FARC rebels.
“We confirm that the information of Andres Sepulveda is advancing the process, and we know that the idea was to negotiate information to illegal and political ends, and which were sent to a political campaign,” states Quintana.
On November 14 is the preliminary trial of Sepulveda, where a judge will have the final word in whether or not the plea deal is valid.
Sources
- Así es el preacuerdo entre hacker Sepúlveda y Fiscalía en proceso por ‘chuzadas’ (El Pais)
- Hacker Sepúlveda firmó preacuerdo con la Fiscalía (W Radio)
