Seven people have been sentenced to prison in Spain for the 2009 murder of Colombian drug lord Leonidas Vargas, who was shot dead while receiving treatment in a Madrid hospital, EFE reported Tuesday.
The assassins, who were all economically rather than personally motivated, colluded to take out the former Caqueta cartel leader on January 8, 2009.
The court was told that Vargas had no chance to react due to the “surprising and unexpected” nature of the murder. Vargas was being investigated at the time by Spanish authorities for his ties to the drug trade but was on bail due to lung disease.
Jonathan Andres Ortiz, who “made several shots with an automatic pistol,” received 25 years and nine months, while Jonathan Fajardo José Ospina, who received the assassination orders from apparent strangers, will serve 23 years and six months.
Four more men are also due to serve hefty sentences between 24 and 26 years for their part in the murder, with the heaviest 26-year sentence surpassing the others due to a separate but accumulated sentence for an armed struggle with officers.
The mistress of one of the murders received around 10 years incarceration, while a Romanian man will serve four years for disposing of the murder weapon.
The condemned have been ordered to pay almost $150,000 compensation to the widow of the slain drug kingpin.