A former governor from the north of Colombia was sentenced on Wednesday of funneling state funds to paramilitary groups.
Salvador Arana, the former governor of the Sucre department, was sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzling $250 thousand that ended up in the hands of the regional bloc of the AUC, a paramilitary army suspected of tens of thousands of human rights violations that officially demobilized between 2003 and 2006.
According to the prosecutor, Arana illegally seized the funds of 15 public works contracts “that ended up in the vault of the United Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).”
The embezzled money ended up in the hands of local paramilitary commander “Diego Vecino.”
The disgraced former governor was sentenced while already carrying out a 40-year prison sentence for the homicide of a mayor from his department.
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Arana is one of six former governors in prison for their ties to paramilitary groups belonging to the AUC.