A court considered that the justification that the judge had given had no legal support.
News Caribbean.
The judge José de Jesús Vergara Otero He was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment for the crime of prevaricate by aggravated action, after having irregularly granted the home arrest measurement to Juan Carlos Romero Gómez, aka “JK”alleged leader of the criminal structure Los Costaño, which crimes in Barranquilla and the Caribbean region. The judicial decision was issued by the Superior Court of Barranquilla on September 2.
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According to the ruling, Judge Vergara, who in 2019 served as Judge 12 Municipal penal “Family father.” However, the court considered that such justification had no legal support and that the measure violated what was established by the Code of Criminal Procedure, since the defendant faced charges for Serious crimes such as homicide, extortion and microtrafficking.
The sentence indicates that the judge acted arbitrarily, without taking into account the seriousness of the facts or the evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office. The magistrates described their performance as “unilateral, biased and without valid legal basis”, by applying personal criteria above the procedural norms. This action, according to the court, generated serious damage to justice and favored active criminal structures in the region.
In addition to the sentence of 84 months in prison, Vergara Otero was sanctioned with a fine of more than 66 monthly minimum wages in force and was disabled for 80 months to exercise public positions. His immediate capture was also ordered, and benefits such as house prison or the suspension of the penalty were not granted for the seriousness of his behavior.
The name of José de Jesús Vergara Otero had already been mentioned in previous investigations for alleged judicial irregularities. Journalistic and prosecutor’s reports link him with an alleged corruption network that favored members of criminal gangs through rigged judicial decisions. Other judges, lawyers and intermediaries of the Barranquilla Judicial Services Center were also involved in this network.
The conviction has been interpreted as an important step in the fight against corruption within the Colombian judicial system. For the authorities, this ruling represents a clear message that judicial officials who use their position to benefit criminals will not be unpunished. Justice, they emphasized, cannot be used as a tool at the service of crime.
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