MIAMI, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The Colombian brothers believed to have founded the Cali cartel pleaded guilty to drug trafficking Tuesday in Miami and were sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Gilberto and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela apologized to their families and to the people of the United States for their activities, the Miami Herald reported.
''It is an honor to be before this court,'' said Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. "I want to apologize to my family and ask for forgiveness for any suffering I may have caused them. ... I'm doing this fully convinced it will bring something better."
Both brothers are in their 60s and the sentences mean they are likely to die in federal prison. Under the plea agreement, the government agreed not to prosecute six other members of their family and allowed them to keep some assets not related to drug trafficking, including real estate in Spain, the Herald said.
In the mid 1990s, the Cali cartel is believed to have smuggled several tons of cocaine a month into the United States.
