Santiago Uribe Sentenced to 28 Years, Moved to Rionegro Military Garrison

Santiago Uribe Vélez, brother of former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe, received a sentence of 28 years and three months' imprisonment for aggravated homicide and aggravated conspiracy to commit crimes as the leader of the paramilitary group known as “Los 12 Apóstoles.” The Supreme Court of Justice rejected his defense’s extraordinary appeal, leaving the verdict final.

Following a request by Álvaro Uribe, the national government authorized his transfer to the Grupo de Caballería Mecanizado No. 4 Juan del Corral, a military garrison in Rionegro, Antioquia, rather than to an ordinary civilian prison. Álvaro Uribe publicly thanked President Gustavo Petro for approving the relocation. The judgment also includes a fine of 6,500 minimum monthly wages, a 20‑year ban on holding public office, and a prohibition on possessing firearms for four years and six months.

The case is tied to investigations that linked the “Los 12 Apóstoles” group to systematic killings of suspected collaborators of insurgent groups in northern Antioquia during the 1990s, including the murder of bus driver Camilo Barrientos in 1994.