New York (AP) — The brother of a powerful leftist senator in Colombia pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal narcotics charges as part of a sting in which he offered to introduce U.S. drug informants to dissident guerrillas who could help smuggle huge quantities of cocaine to New York.
Álvaro Córdoba, dressed in prison garb, entered a plea in Manhattan federal court to a single count of conspiring to send 500 grams (17 ounces) or more of cocaine into the U.S. He will be sentenced to a mandatory five years in prison but could also face more than two decades behind bars under sentencing laws. His plea does not contain any promise to cooperate with law enforcement.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Álvaro Córdoba, dressed in prison garb, entered a plea in Manhattan federal court to a single count of conspiring to send 500 grams (17 ounces) or more of cocaine into the U.S.
The case was something of a minefield for Petro, given his historic ties to the left as a former rebel himself and his newfound role as commander in chief of security forces that have long served as the United States’ caretaker in fighting narcotics smuggling in the South American nation.
Piedad Córdoba has been a harsh U.S. critic who, under previously conservative Colombian rule, promoted closer ties to Venezuela’s socialist government and more support for traditionally overlooked Afro-Colombian communities.
And the senator herself likened the sting against her and her brother to the manhunt decades ago that brought down Medellin cartel boss Pablo Escobar.
Córdoba also allegedly offered to make arrangements for the DEA source to visit a clandestine camp in southern Colombian jungles where 300 guerrillas armed with surface-to-air missiles and other weapons would supply and provide safe passage for the narcotics.
The rebel unit was run by a holdout commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who refused to go along with a 2016 peace deal that Piedad Córdoba helped broker, prosecutors said.
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