| After Months in
Colombia Jail Amid COVID Espinal
78 Months Betancourt Asks
Probation
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Oct 21 – A man extradited from
Colombia on drug trafficking
charged he pled guilty to was
up for sentencing by U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge Valerie E. Caproni on
March 18, 2024.
Inner City
Press was there, the only
civilian in the
courtroom.
The US
Attorney's Office had asked
for a below Guidelines
sentence of 60 months, citing
the time the defendant spent
in prison in Colombia awaiting
extradition during the height
of the COVID-19
pandemic.
The
defendant when he spoke cried,
how he had lost time with his
family.
Judge
Caproni noted the tears, and
the prison, but said that he
had not fully accepted
responsibility, and had
downplayed his role. Instead
of the requested sixty months,
she sentenced Franck Hernan
Alvarez Espinal to 78 months.
He
indicated that he wanted to
say something after, but
ultimately did not.
In October 2025
co-defendant Betancourt asked
for probation, with sentencing
set for October 24.
The case is US v.
Salazar-Lotero, et al.,
19-cr-661 (Caproni)
***
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