HOUSTON - A former member of Denmark's parliament was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for involvement in an attempted $25 million cocaine-for-guns deal with right-wing Colombian paramilitary forces, US prosecutors said.
Uwe Jensen, 70, was arrested in a sting operation in Houston in November 2002 for plotting to give the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym AUC, thousands of weapons in exchange for $25 million in cocaine and cash.
He pleaded guilty in June 2003 to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
AUC was designated as a terrorist group by the US government on Sept. 10, 2001.
US District Judge David Hittner gave Jensen two 14-year sentences, but said they would run concurrently, US Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a statement.
Jensen was in the Danish parliament in the late 1970s as a member of the right-wing populist Fremskridtspartiet.
Two accomplices, Colombians Elkin Alberto Arroyave Ruiz, 37, and Edgar Fernando Blanco Puerta, also were sentenced today, receiving 15 years and life in prison respectively, DeGabrielle said.
- REUTERS
Danish ex-MP gets 14 years in Colombian arms plot
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