Ciro Ramirez (Image: Senate)

Colombia’s Supreme Court sentenced Senator Ciro Ramirez of the far-right Democratic Center party to 23 years in prison for embezzling more than $24 million in public funds.

According to the court, Ramirez led a criminal organization made up of government officials and State contractors that embezzled infrastructure funds and guaranteed no-show contracts for the Senator’s corporate sponsors.

The court found that the senator secured multiple National Planning Department (DNP) contracts with construction firms, for which he received kickbacks worth 10% of the value of the contracts.

The corruption plot affected the development and maintenance of road infrastructure in five of Colombia’s 32 provinces.

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Proyecta’s former CEO, Pablo Cesar Herrera, became a key witness against Ramirez after prosecutors found he had been embezzling funds meant for projects successfully lobbied by Ramirez.

The prosecution additionally requested an international arrest warrant against former DNP director Pierre Garcia, also a member of the Democratic center, for his alleged role in the granting of contracts to corrupt senators.

Garcia became a suspect in corruption investigations because of a similar racket that benefitted the political ambitions and sponsors of late Senator Mario Castaño of the Liberal Party.

Castaño died in prison in December 2023 after he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Ramirez has the opportunity to appeal the court ruling before the Supreme Court’s Cassations Chamber, which previously sentenced his father to prison because of his ties to extradited drug trafficker “Mi Sangre.”