Former Colombian DA pleads in drug case

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- An ex-Colombian prosecutor pleaded guilty to providing law enforcement information to drug traffickers as part of a conspiracy, U.S. Justice officials said.

Ramiro Anturi Larrahondo, 55, pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine, knowing and intending that the drug would be illegally imported into the United States, the Justice Department said in a release.

"Ramiro Anturi Larrahondo used his position as a Colombian prosecutor to leak sensitive law enforcement intelligence to large-scale drug traffickers in exchange for his own personal enrichment," said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the department's Criminal Division. "Anturi Larrahondo undermined international law enforcement operations and betrayed the trust placed in him by the Colombian government.

Breuer said Anturi Larrahondo was the first Colombian prosecutor extradited to the United States.

A federal grand jury indicted the Colombian national in 2010. Court documents indicate that while a Colombian prosecutor in 2009, Anturi Larrahondo provided law enforcement investigative information to a major Colombian maritime drug trafficking organization.

The plea agreement indicated the cartel Anturi Larrahondo conspired with shipped cocaine by boat to a Central American location and ultimately to the United States.

As part of his plea agreement, Anturi Larrahondo admitted he received monthly payments of about $10,000 regularly from the Colombian cartel so drug traffickers to find out what, if any, criminal investigation the U.S. or Colombian governments were conducting against them. He also admitted he was paid to protect the drug trafficking organization from law enforcement.