Colombian drug lord receives 45-year jail sentence in US

Thursday, October 22, 2009

A US federal judge in Miami, Florida handed down a 45-year jail sentence to Diego Montoya, aged 48, two months after he pleaded guilty to murder, drug trafficking and racketeering charges. At the proceedings, Montoya apologised for his past actions, saying he hoped his sentence would bring a measure of relief to victims and their families.

"I am really repentant of my actions. I hope my sentence will bring some measure of peace to the victims and their families," he said.

Montoya had been charged with heading the Norte Valle cartel, which rose to become Colombia's most powerful cocaine cartel after the demise of the Medellin and Cali cartels in the mid-1990s.

It is not yet known where Montaya will serve his sentence. However, William Clay, Montaya's attorney, requested that the location be near Miami.

Federal officials said that the cartel supplied 60% of all Colombian cocaine transported to the US at its peak. Montoya, also known as Don Diego, was arrested in 2007 and extradited to the US last year. He was once on the FBI's top-ten most-wanted list, alongside al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Last April, a US district judge in Florida sentenced Montoya's younger brother, Eugenio, to thirty years in prison on charges including conspiracy to import cocaine and obstruction of justice. The US government said that the Norte Valle cartel used "violence and murder" to prevent people from passing information to law enforcement officials and to "instill fear."

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

This article includes material from Colombian Drug Lord Receives 45-Year US Sentence by VOA News, which is in the public domain.

"Colombian Drug Lord Receives 45-Year US Sentence" — October 21, 2009
Travis Reed. "Miami judge gives cocaine kingpin 45 years in jail" — Associated Press, October 21, 2009

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.