A major promoter of a referendum on the 2010 re-election of president Alvaro Uribe made a deal with prosecutors to serve four years and five months under house arrest, after pleading guilty to charges of procedural fraud and misrepresentation.
According to Colombian media, Uribe supporter and former congressman Luis Guillermo Giraldo Hurtado pleaded guilty to the charges and will now have to wait for the judge’s approval of the agreement between him and prosecutors.
The prosecutors agreed to house arrest, as Giraldo is not considered a danger to society.
The former congressman will also have to pay a US$40,000 fine and is not allowed to engage in political activities during his house arrest.
The referendum for which Giraldo is sentenced was approved by Colombia’s Congress, but declared unconstitutional by the country’s Constitutional Court because of the numerous irregularities that had occured during the process.