Colombian Judge Who Freed Cartel Suspect Is Sentenced
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BOGOTA, Colombia — A judge who illegally released a reputed leader of the Medellin drug cartel has been sentenced to six years in prison for obstruction of justice, a federal court said Tuesday.
Fabio Pastrana Hoyos was fired from his post as a customs judge in the Caribbean coastal city of Cartagena after his 1986 order freeing Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez, considered the second in command of the drug-trafficking cartel.
Pastrana was found guilty Monday of obstruction of justice and sentenced by the federal court in Cartagena, the court’s clerk said in a news release.
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