Hugo Albeiro Quintero, alias “El Patron,” a gang leader in Colombia’s second city Medellin, is sentenced to seven years and five months in jail for planning to create new paramilitary groups.
The sentence was handed down by a criminal court in Medellin, which found him guilty of aggravated conspiracy with the purpose of forming illegal organizations, reports Caracol Radio. The decision was made in one of the lower courts, meaning that Quintero has the option of appealing to a higher court in Medellin.
Quintero was arrested in September 2008 in Bello on charges of homicide and forced disappearance.
The criminal boss, who owned the transport company Bellanita de Transportes, was linked to the AUC paramilitary coalition, and is accused of harboring former paramilitary leader Vicente Castaño Quintero when he broke off peace negotiations with the Colombian government in August 2006.
During his trial, two key witnesses were murdered and one disappeared. An investigation into these killings is ongoing.