Memo Fantasma to Stroll, Due to Colombian Prosecutor

Paramilitary drug lord, alias “Memo Fantasma” or “Will the Ghost,” might quickly stroll out of jail in Colombia, after the prosecutor fumbled two hearings designed to maintain the accused in pre-trial detention. Underworld sources suspect foul play.

On June 30, decide Carmen Gualteros denied a request to increase the pre-trial detention of Guillermo León Acevedo Giraldo, alias “Memo Fantasma,” nearly a 12 months after he was first jailed. The Lawyer Normal’s Workplace instantly appealed the choice however Acevedo could also be allowed to stroll free round July 3, when he completes a 12 months of pre-trial detention.

The decide additionally lifted home arrest restrictions on Acevedo’s mom, Margoth de Jesús Ramírez Giraldo, and his grandmother, María Enriqueta Ramírez. They’ll as an alternative should current themselves each 15 days to judicial providers. All three are going through prices of cash laundering, prison conspiracy and illicit enrichment.

“Your arguments weren’t adequate to help why it was crucial to increase this…measure for an additional 12 months,” she informed prosecutor Julio César Ochoa through the digital listening to which was broadcast dwell on YouTube.

This listening to to contemplate whether or not Memo Fantasma ought to stay in pre-trial detention was convened after his protection lawyer requested his launch at a separate listening to on June 28.

“All of the established procedures have been fulfilled,” mentioned protection lawyer David Espinosa Acuña, himself below investigation for receiving unexplained funds from Acevedo, on June 28. “There has not been a single delaying tactic by the protection.”

SEE ALSO: Memo Fantasma Might Stroll Out of Jail: Corruption or Incompetence?

Nevertheless, the prosecutor Ochoa, who took over the case final April, didn’t seem remotely dedicated to efforts to maintain Acevedo in jail. Acevedo is seen as a flight danger and there was proof of makes an attempt to bribe officers linked to his case. Acevedo can be accused of being a pacesetter in two prison constructions that routinely killed opponents.

Ochoa appeared to concede a lot of the protection’s arguments. “It’s true what the protection states, that there have been no postponements or delays by the protection group. It’s a household tragedy that we see a person being detained alongside together with his mom and grandmother,” he mentioned through the first listening to.

There have been accusations that Ochoa just isn’t match to deal with this case and that there was overt interference within the investigation.

Through the preliminary June 28 listening to, the decide, Paul Oswaldo Santander Esquivel, appeared unimpressed with both facet.

He lambasted the protection group, insisting that they’d taken far too lengthy in needing 31 days to gather the proof from the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace, holding up the judicial course of.

“Sure, there have been delaying techniques on the a part of the protection,” he responded.

Santander additionally rejected the notion offered by the prosecutor that this was a “household tragedy.”

“This courtroom considers that it has not been taken under consideration that we’re coping with an organized crime group,” the decide mentioned, earlier than rejecting a request for Acevedo’s rapid launch.

After this request was denied, Acevedo laughed and shook his head. His lawyer, Espinosa, appealed in opposition to this choice however he needn’t have bothered.

The second listening to, which started on June 29 and was presided over by Carmen Gualteros, was requested by the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace to increase pre-trial detention for Acevedo. Ochoa didn’t appear that eager on securing one other extension. Certainly, it appeared he might have most well-liked for Memo Fantasma to be let out.

“Is the defendant a hazard to society? On this…the prosecution doesn’t have components to guage apart from media and journalistic indications the place it’s said that León Acevedo is allegedly a harmful one who can kill witnesses. There is no such thing as a background within the course of on this concern,” Ochoa assured the decide.

SEE ALSO: The Invisible Drug Lord: Looking ‘The Ghost’

These declarations by Ochoa run counter to statements made by a few of Colombia’s highest safety officers. In Might 2020, Lawyer Normal Francisco Barbosa recognized Acevedo as “Memo Fantasma” and as commander of the brutal right-wing paramilitary military the United Self Protection Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC), with the alias “Sebastian Colmenares.” Barbosa mentioned that the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace had judicial paperwork exhibiting that Acevedo had a prison profession stretching again to 1992.

And Colombia’s police chief, Normal Jorge Vargas, said throughout Acevedo’s arrest in June 2021 that there was proof Memo Fantasma was a high paramilitary commander.

Ochoa additionally gave the impression to be ignoring the case information handed to him by the earlier prosecutor who constructed the case, Juan David Huepe. These information apparently included testimony gathered from at the least six paramilitary witnesses who recognized Acevedo as a paramilitary commander and/or drug trafficker.

Throughout an erratic presentation on June 28, the place Ochoa needed to hold pausing to search out paperwork and accumulate his ideas, he returned to his notion of a household tragedy. As an alternative of asking for the continued detention below home arrest of Acevedo’s mom and grandmother, he said it was higher to allow them to go.

“It’s the obligation of the prosecution to take into consideration the dignity of the people who find themselves right here going through a course of, which is already a tragedy,” Ochoa assured the decide.

The consultant of the Procuraduría (Inspector Normal’s Workplace), additionally current on the listening to, was damning about Ochoa’s presentation for a continuation of the pre-trial detention.

“It’s not legitimate to attempt to use those self same arguments and materials proof (from the earlier request for pre-trial detention) to say that this case persists right now. It was the duty of the prosecution to current new materials proof that replace the grounds to request this extension,” said the official.

This criticism was was echoed by Decide Gualteros who criticised Ochoa, saying “the prosecution was weak in its argumentation.”

“I did my finest,” Ochoa responded.

InSight Crime consulted two skilled prosecutors after the hearings. They, individually, got here to the identical verdict on Ochoa and his efficiency. Each of them referred to the prosecutor as “a clown.”

“This was totally unprofessional. He’s making your entire Lawyer Normal’s Workplace look dangerous,” mentioned one of many prosecutors, as he watched a recording of the viewers, clearly horrified.

Alias ‘Charlie,’ who was Acevedo’s private assistant throughout greater than a decade for his drug trafficking enterprise, additionally watched a recording of the viewers and supplied InSight Crime with commentary. He may solely come to 1 conclusion.

“Memo goes to bribe his manner out of jail,” he mentioned.

As he watched the hearings, Charlie’s outrage grew.

“I’m now satisfied that Memo has reached as soon as extra contained in the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace,” mentioned Charlie. “I’ve by no means heard a prosecutor be so brazen. He appeared like he was a part of the protection group,” he concluded.

Acevedo’s trial is slated to proceed in September or October.

*Within the pursuits of transparency, it ought to be said that Guillermo Acevedo introduced a cost of prison libel in opposition to McDermott, the creator of this text and the preliminary investigative collection. The case has since been archived by the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace for lack of proof.