Colombia’s Supreme Court sentenced former congressman for the northern Magdalena department Jorge Castro Pacheco to seven years and six months in jail, after finding him guilty of parapolitics.
Castro Pacheco was found to have ties to the Northern Bloc of the now-demobilized AUC paramilitary organization, and to have made an alliance with paramilitary boss Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, alias “Jorge 40”.
The court made its ruling partly based on evidence given by former DAS director Rafael Garcia, who testified that Castro Pacheco used help from Jorge 40 to be elected to Congress in 2002.
Castro Pacheco signed the Pivijay pact in 2001, an agreement that guaranteed his election to Congress, in return for committing to implement policies beneficial to the paramilitaries in the region.
Castro Pacheco replaced Senator Dieb Maloof, who also lost his seat due to paramilitary connections.