A Colombian judge on Tuesday sentenced 43 former members of ERPAC, a neo-paramilitary organization mostly active in the east Colombia, to four years in prison.
The men were convicted on charges of conspiracy, according to local media. The group was tried in the central Cundinamarca department after 267 ERPAC members demobilized and were turned over to authorities in December 2011.
In May, 44 other former ERPAC members were sentenced to nine years in prison for conspiracy and the trafficking and possession of arms.
More trials for ERPAC members are set for this week.
ERPAC was formed in 2006 by former AUC commander Pedro Oliverio Guerrero, alias “Cuchillo,” who integrated other members of the AUC’s Bloque Centaurus into his private army primarily dedicated to drug trafficking in the departments of Meta and Casanare. Cuchillo was killed by armed forces in December 2010.
