Colombia ‘peace talks hacker’ seeks plea bargain for reduced sentence

(Photo: Semana)

The accused hacker, Andres Sepulveda, has sought an agreement with Colombia’s Prosecutor General’s Office to divulge information in exchange for a reduced sentence, local radio station Blu Radio reported on Friday.

The hacker and his lawyers are now seeking to get a sentence reduction or an elimination of charges, provided that Sepulveda come clean about his involvement in the hacking of Colombia’s peace talks and the spying he allegedly did for Oscar Ivan Zuluaga’s presidential campaign.

One of his lawyers said that the two parties will continue negotiating and will hopefully reach an agreement next week.

As of now, Sepulveda is facing charges of conspiracy, illegal wiretapping, espionage, and violation of personal data.

Sepulveda was arrested May 6 for buying chat logs and emails of discussions between top level members of Colombia’s largest rebel group, the FARC, who were attending peace talks with the Colombian government in Havana, Cuba. The information was purchased from the top-secret military program, “Andromeda”.

MORE: Wiretap suspect had contacts with ‘Andromeda program’ and military intelligence: newspaper

Additionally, Sepulveda was connected with Democratic Center Party candidate Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, who was former President Alvaro Uribe’s choice for president during June’s presidential elections. A video of the hacker and Zuluaga had surfaced, apparently discussing classified information.

MORE: Zuluaga directly involved with illegal wiretapping, caught on video

Both Uribe and Zuluaga were hit by a political tsunami after admitting that Sepulveda was working for the campaign. According to an online profile, Sepulveda allegedly worked for Uribe in his 2005 campaign for re-election.

MORE: Zuluaga and Uribe under fire after admitting wiretap suspect worked for campaign

Last month, threats were made against Sepulveda and his family, which prompted the prosecutor general to transfer him from his cell to a separate bunker while his family was put under 24-hour protective surveillance.

According to Prosecutor General Eduardo Montealegre, an assassination plot had been foiled against Sepulveda’s life in which money had allegedly changed hands, and a weapon was smuggled into the prison.

MORE: We foiled assassination attempt on Colombia’s ‘peace talks hacker’: govt

Sources

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