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Ex-Salvadoran colonel gets prison for immigration fraud

BOSTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Ex-Salvadoran Col. Inocente Orlando Montano, suspected of killing six priests and two others, was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Boston for immigration fraud.

Montano was given 21 months in federal prison for immigration fraud and perjury and is to serve another year on probation in the United States, La Pagina reported. Prosecutors had sought a 51-month term for Montano, who had pleaded last year, the Salvadoran newspaper said.

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Spain wants Montano extradited to that country to face human-rights charges in the 1989 slayings of the Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter. The United States has yet to comply with the extradition request.

Montano was deputy minister of public security at the time of the killings.

The Center for Justice & Accountability, a human-rights advocacy group in San Francisco, alleges Montano, who resettled near Boston a decade ago, conspired with other high commanders to murder the priests and other two victims.

"Today, we are one step closer to justice for the victims of the massacre," the group said in a statement posted on its website. "CJA commends Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin and his whole team for an exemplary job in this case. The sentence of 21 months sends a message to human-rights abusers that they cannot seek safe haven in the United States and avoid accountability for their actions.

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"Now, the extradition process for the trial in Spain can begin, where Montano will be tried for his role as one of the decision-makers who ordered the 1989 killing of the Jesuits in El Salvador. This is the moment of justice that the victims of the massacre deserve."

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