A New York court sentenced Daniel Rendón-Herrera, former head of the Clan del Golfo, to 35 years in prison.
In addition to jail time, the court asked Rendon-Herrera to pay $45 million.
Judge Dora Irizarry said that the Colombian deserves to serve the sentence requested by the prosecution due to the deaths caused by his activity with drug trafficking.
“You have to think of all those people who will never see their loved ones, who were killed in terrible ways,” he said at the end of a nearly two-hour court session.
Rendon-Herrera, 56, pleaded guilty to supporting a designated terrorist organization and leading an illicit enterprise connected to drug trafficking. For this last charge, Irizarry imposed 35 years in prison, while for the first it was 15 years; however, both statements are concurrent.
Rendón-Herrera was a leader in the 1990s of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), designated by the United States as a terrorist organization in 2001. The paramilitary organization imposed “taxes” on cocaine that was trafficked through areas controlled by the AUC and acted with violence, carrying out assassinations and kidnappings.
According to the prosecution, when many members of the organization left it as part of a peace process in 2006, Rendón-Herrera redesigned the group and turned it into Los Urabeños, also known as Clan Usuga or Clan del Golfo.
Rendón-Herrera spoke Monday in court and apologized to “American society for the damage caused by my actions.” He said that although he will no longer be released due to the many sentences he faces in Colombia, “I would like to return to my country, where I have my family, my grandchildren, my children.”
“I have experienced difficult times in prison, I ask you to consider my age, my health problems, to forgive me for the acts committed,” Rendón-Herrera said.
Rendón-Herrera was captured in April 2009 in an area of the department of Antioquia after more than 10 months of intelligence operations. At the time, prosecutors said, Rendón-Herrera ran 16 “blocs” or territories around Colombia and thousands of paramilitaries. In pleading guilty, the Colombian admitted responsibility for having trafficked at least 73,645 kilos of cocaine.
Also known as Don Mario, the narco was extradited to the United States in April 2018.
