Former Colombian governor Trino Luna Correa was banned from public office for 15 years, over allegations of ties to the disbanded AUC paramilitary group.
The Inspector General’s office handed down the decision after the former governor of northern Magdalena department, who ran for office uncontested in 2003, allegedly promoted and sponsored the armed group while in office.
Testimonies from several unnamed high-ranking AUC members aided investigators in their case.
“It was demonstrated that as governor of Magdalena, [Correa] committed actions that affected institutions and favored the said illegal armed group,” stated the decicion of the Inspector General.
Correa plead guilty to conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 44 months in prison and fined $250,000 in 2007.
Another former Magdalena governor, Jose Domingo Davilla, was convicted of paramilitary ties in February 2011.
The close ties between politicians and the drug-trafficking paramilitary group, which disbanded in 2006, has become popularly known as “parapolitics.”