US Accused of Withholding Evidence in Drug Case
Source: Associated Press
US Accused of Withholding Evidence in Drug Case
By BEN FOX Associated Press
MIAMI May 30, 2013 (AP)
Two Colombians who were facing the prospect of spending the rest of their lives in a U.S. prison for drug trafficking will go home much sooner after prosecutors were accused of withholding evidence about payments by the Drug Enforcement Administration to police in the South American country.
John Finkelstein Winer and Jose Salazar Buitrago both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport cocaine and received sentences of 36 months, with credit for the nearly two years they have already been in custody.
The hastily arranged plea deal and sentences before a federal judge in Florida on May 23 was a rare defeat of sorts in a drug case for the U.S. government, which has been working with Colombia to extradite hundreds of people suspected of trafficking in recent years and routinely sentences them to lengthy prison terms.
"For us it was really an outstanding outcome considering all the circumstances," said Jose Quinon, the veteran Miami criminal defense lawyer who represented Finkelstein, a 57-year-old native of Bogota.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-accused-withholding-evidence-drug-case-19289637#.Uaeq1Ooo7_Q
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