The businessman who is the confessed link between a former Medellin chief prosecutor and the drugtrafficking neo-paramilitary organization “Los Urabeños” announced he will turn himself in to authorities, various media reported.
Juan Felipe Sierra, who was captured in 2008, suspiciously released by an allegedly corrupt judge in 2009, re-arrested in November 2010 and re-released in December 2010, has decided to finally present himself to authorities after nearly three years of being an on-again off-again fugitive.
“The most sensible decision, however harsh it was, was to accept the charges for conspiracy to commit a crime,” Sierra told W Radio.
Sierra admitted to ties with former neo-paramilitary leader, alias “Don Mario,” and his right-hand man, alias “El Indio.” He said that after forming a friendship with El Indio, Sierra asked the now-incarcerated former Medellin chief prosecutor Guillermo Valencia Cossio to remove El Indio from the list of drug traffickers thought to be connected to Don Mario.
Valencia Cossio was convicted in February 2011 of conspiracy, suppression of documents and illicit enrichment.
The former official was also found guilty of having ordered a former police commander to exclude the drug trafficker El Indio from the police flow chart of Don Mario’s gang, even though he was the drug lord’s second-in-command.
Sierra is negotiating with authorities the terms of his arrest, which should come at the end of the week after a previously scheduled medical appointment.
“I want to redo my personal and professional life, so I will present myself before authorities” Sierra was quoted as saying by newspaper El Espectador. He added that he will accept his charges “with humility.”
