The sentence arose from a pre-agreement that both parties reached with the Prosecutor’s Office.
News Colombia.
In a ruling, the 53rd judge of Bogotá sentenced police officers Alfonso Quinchanegua and Dana Canizales to 10 years in prison for the crimes of procedural fraud and falsification of public documents, for their involvement in the case of illegal wiretapping of Marelbys Mesa and Fabiola Perea. Both women worked for Laura Sarabia, who at that time was the chief of staff of the National Government. The hearing was held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, in Bogotá.
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In addition to the prison sentence, Quinchanegua and Canizales must pay a fine equivalent to 354 current legal monthly minimum wages. This sentence arises from a pre-agreement that both reached with the Prosecutor’s Office, in which they admitted having acted under orders from their superiors, although they did not give further details. During the last hearing, both publicly apologized to the victims.
Two police officers sentenced to ten years in prison for wiretapping Marelbys Meza, Laura Sarabia’s former nanny. The officers confessed that the order came from the Casa de Nariño. https://t.co/if1kX8q65f pic.twitter.com/ypmegKhtyd
— Semana Magazine (@RevistaSemana) September 25, 2024
Dana Canizales, in his speech, said: “As humans we make mistakes and we are not perfect… Because I believed I could trust and receive orders from my superiors, everything led me to believe that I could do a job honestly and correctly for the community.” For his part, Mayor Alfonso Quinchanegua said: “I want to publicly apologize to all the affected parties, to the citizens that in one way or another we affected both morally and psychologically. I am sorry for everything that was attempted to be done in this process.”
We obtained the conviction of two police officers who admitted to committing serious crimes against MARELBYS MEZA and other victims. We continue, they did not act alone!!
— Ivan Cancino (@CancinoAbog) September 25, 2024
It all started after the theft of a large sum of money
This case became relevant in early 2023, when reports arose about an alleged theft of $7,000 belonging to Sarabia.
According to Mesa’s statements, security officials from the Casa de Nariño interrogated her in a basement and gave her a polygraph test. During the process, both Mesa and Perea were linked to criminal groups; Mesa was given the alias of “La Cocinera” (The Cook) of the Clan del Golfo, and Perea was given the alias of “La Madrina” (The Godmother), supposedly in charge of making transfers to leaders of this organization.
In addition to those already convicted, Captain Carlos Andrés Correa Loaiza and patrolman Jhon Fredi Morales also face similar charges and are awaiting trial.
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