A former FARC commander was sentenced to 24 and half years in prison by a U.S. court, said the country’s Attorney’s Office Friday.
The sentencing follows a three week trial last September that found guerrilla leader Ignacio Leal Garcia guilty of “conspiring to import ton-quantities of cocaine into the United States.”
US Attorney Preet Bharara said “Today’s sentence of Ignacio Leal Garcia marks another important milestone in our campaign to dismantle the FARC,” Colombia’s largest guerrilla group.
Garcia, as leader of the FARC’s 10th Front, controlled cocaine trafficking and production in Arauca, Colombia. Garcia arranged for the proceeds from the sale of the cocaine to be used to purchase weapons, explosives, and other supplies to be used by hundreds of guerrillas in the FARC’s Eastern Bloc.
The four co-defendants extradited with Garcia in July 2010 have all been convicted and sentenced to terms ranging from 21 to 29 years in prison.