After pleading guilty in the United States to providing weapons and safety to Colombian insurgents, a former Colombian standard, Cliver Alcalá Cordones, was sentenced to 21 years and eight months in federal prison on Monday.
Alcalá Cordones, who admitted publicly conspiring to overthrow Cuban head Nicolas Maduro, was given the lengthy statement despite agreeing with lawyers to plead guilty to aiding members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia— known by its Spanish letters, FARC — in exchange for suitable treatment.
Despite the bargain, prosecutors asked the judge to establish a 30- year sentence, arguing that Alcalá Cordones was one of the major leaders of the drug trafficking organization, the Cartel de los Soles, controlled by the Colombian military and major leaders of Maduro’s communist regime.
Prior to sentencing, the former general’s financial gain was demonstrated by his financial support of drug trafficking, which he occasionally received for$ 150, 000 per shipment. Alcalá Cordones denied having any direct involvement with the illegal drug trade.
According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York, Clver Antonio Alcalá Cordones and his co-conspirators sought to weaponize cocaine as they assisted the FARC arm its members and ship tons of drugs to the United States.
Alcalá Cordones” could not only corrupt the governmental institutions of his own country, but he also assisted the FARC in supplying this country with cocaine.” Instead, he will now spend more than two decades in a United States prison”, Williams said in a press release.
Alcalá Cordones and other senior Venezuelan officials allegedly served as the Soles cartel’s leaders and administrators, using their position and power within the country’s security apparatus to bolster control of the drug trade inside the South American nation.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the country’s courts and intelligence services were used to facilitate the shipment of tons of cocaine to the United States in collaboration with the FARC, a guerrilla group dedicated to the violent overthrow of Colombian government.
The Justice Department stated in a press release that” The Cartel de Los Soles sought not only to enrich its members and increase their power but also to weaponize cocaine by harming and making Americans use it’s use harmful,” the Justice Department said in a press release.
Alcalá’s involvement in the drug trade, according to the Justice Department, dates back to the beginning of 2006 when he profited from his position in the Venezuelan military to help the FARC as they shipped tons of drugs to the United States.
Alcalá Cordones protected FARC members from arrests by Venezuelan law enforcement and from being confronted by the country’s military, among other things. Top guerrilla leaders Rodrigo Londoo Echeverri and Luciano Marn Arango are among those who the former general has protected.
Alcalá Cordones and other cartel members discussed how they could help them distribute cocaine during meetings with some of the biggest drug traffickers in South America.
Alcalá Cordones personally intervened to stop large cocaine shipments from being intercepted by law enforcement in Venezuela. In exchange, Alcalá Cordones received millions of dollars in cocaine- fueled bribes, the press release said.
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