Colombia’s Supreme Court has found Medellin’s former chief prosecutor guilty of aiding a head of the now-defunct Norte del Valle drug cartel, according to local media.
Guillermo Valencia, currently serving time for his ties to drug traffickers belonging to “Los Urabeños,” was convicted of omission and concealment in a case against Juan Carlos Abadia, alias “Chupeta.”
Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper reported Monday that the courts found that Valencia Cossio had received charges against Chupeta, but had decided not to process them. In addition, some of the evidence submitted subsequently disappeared.
Valencia is already serving a 15-year sentence for his connections to drug trafficking organizations. It is expected that his sentence in the current case will be reduced by up to half for accepting the charges against him.
Guillermo is the brother of Fabio Valencia, the former Justice Minister under Alvaro Uribe’s administration.
MORE: Uribe’s former justice minister accuses Santos’ party of election fraud
The Valencia family is a powerful and controversial political clan from Medellin with strong ties to the Uribe family.
Fabio Valencia came under fire while serving under Uribe because his brother Guillermo’s ties to drug lords, though he did not resign, claiming he never knew of his brother’s criminal activity.