Colombian militia boss sentenced in NY to 31 years
(Adds byline, details)
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - A former top Colombian paramilitary commander who said he reformed his violent ways was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 31 years in U.S. prison for trafficking cocaine into the United States.
Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano, 48, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court after admitting he was in charge of transporting cocaine in his role as inspector general of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
"I realized that weapons and violence achieve nothing," Murillo said in a statement to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, who sentenced him to 375 months in prison. "War is no good, all it does is destroy and it is possible to change."
Murillo pleaded guilty in June 2008 to conspiring to smuggle tonnes of cocaine into the United States after Colombia's decision to extradite him along with 13 other paramilitary leaders.
His defense lawyers told the court Murillo had surrendered more than 20,000 weapons and 112 properties worth $20 million under a peace deal with President Alvaro Uribe, who Murillo told the court he supported in his 2002 election.
"He truly wanted an end to the 20 years of conflict," said lawyer Margaret Shalley, adding Murillo had reformed and built dams, schools and handed back $6 million to the Colombian government.
Colombian paramilitaries were established in the 1980s by wealthy landowners to defend themselves against Marxist rebels in rural areas where the state had little presence. They soon waged a bloody counterinsurgency and killed many peasants suspected of guerrilla sympathies.
U.S. authorities say Murillo was in charge of transporting the AUC's cocaine, the sale of which funded weapons for the group. He was considered one of the most feared men in Colombia for his possible involvement in killings of peasants suspected of cooperating with Marxist guerrillas.
Prosecutor Eric Snyder disputed Murillo's assertions he was a freedom fighter and said he had exported enough cocaine to fill "this courtroom, spilling out the windows and doors."
"He sat atop a cocaine-exportation empire," he said, adding Murillo had not paid any dues toward the U.S. government.
Murillo apologized to Colombian victims of paramilitary violence -- some of whom were sitting behind him in the courtroom -- as well as to the United States.
He was arrested in Colombia in May 2005 and jailed under a peace deal with Uribe. He was held in prisons there before his extradition, in which the United States promised it would not seek a life sentence.
Some U.S. lawmakers saw the extradition of Murillo and others as a move at the time to strengthen a possible U.S. trade deal.
Murillo issued a warning to others in Colombia considering a similar route.
"There is no political, moral or personal justification whatsoever for continuing with their illegal activities that ends the life of so many people," he said, adding that the only ending was "jail or death." (editing by Philip Barbara)
By Christine Kearney
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - A former top Colombian paramilitary commander who said he reformed his violent ways was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 31 years in U.S. prison for trafficking cocaine into the United States.
Diego Fernando Murillo Bejarano, 48, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court after admitting he was in charge of transporting cocaine in his role as inspector general of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC).
"I realized that weapons and violence achieve nothing," Murillo said in a statement to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman, who sentenced him to 375 months in prison. "War is no good, all it does is destroy and it is possible to change."
Murillo pleaded guilty in June 2008 to conspiring to smuggle tonnes of cocaine into the United States after Colombia's decision to extradite him along with 13 other paramilitary leaders.
His defense lawyers told the court Murillo had surrendered more than 20,000 weapons and 112 properties worth $20 million under a peace deal with President Alvaro Uribe, who Murillo told the court he supported in his 2002 election.
"He truly wanted an end to the 20 years of conflict," said lawyer Margaret Shalley, adding Murillo had reformed and built dams, schools and handed back $6 million to the Colombian government.
Colombian paramilitaries were established in the 1980s by wealthy landowners to defend themselves against Marxist rebels in rural areas where the state had little presence. They soon waged a bloody counterinsurgency and killed many peasants suspected of guerrilla sympathies.
U.S. authorities say Murillo was in charge of transporting the AUC's cocaine, the sale of which funded weapons for the group. He was considered one of the most feared men in Colombia for his possible involvement in killings of peasants suspected of cooperating with Marxist guerrillas.
Prosecutor Eric Snyder disputed Murillo's assertions he was a freedom fighter and said he had exported enough cocaine to fill "this courtroom, spilling out the windows and doors."
"He sat atop a cocaine-exportation empire," he said, adding Murillo had not paid any dues toward the U.S. government.
Murillo apologized to Colombian victims of paramilitary violence -- some of whom were sitting behind him in the courtroom -- as well as to the United States.
He was arrested in Colombia in May 2005 and jailed under a peace deal with Uribe. He was held in prisons there before his extradition, in which the United States promised it would not seek a life sentence.
Some U.S. lawmakers saw the extradition of Murillo and others as a move at the time to strengthen a possible U.S. trade deal.
Murillo issued a warning to others in Colombia considering a similar route.
"There is no political, moral or personal justification whatsoever for continuing with their illegal activities that ends the life of so many people," he said, adding that the only ending was "jail or death." (editing by Philip Barbara)
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