Former Medellin Cartel boss released in Colombia after a judge rules his sentence expired

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombian authorities released former Medellin Cartel boss Carlos Lehder on Monday after a judge ruled that a drug trafficking sentence issued in Colombia against the 75-year-old had expired.

Lehder was arrested Friday night shortly after he landed in Bogota's airport, with immigration officials saying he was still wanted in the South American country on drug trafficking charges and weapons smuggling.

Lehder became the first Colombian drug trafficker extradited to the United States after he was arrested during a party at his ranch.

The former drug trafficker was extradited to the U.S. in 1987, where he served more than 30 years in prison. In 2020, Lehder was released after serving two-thirds of his U.S. sentence. He was deported to Germany, where he is also a citizen.

Lehder had not returned to Colombia since his extradition to the United States. His lawyer, Sondra Macollins said he was attempting to visit relatives when he arrived Friday.

“He is recovering from cancer, and has high blood pressure problems,” Macollins told Colombia’s Blu radio. “We are talking about someone who spent years in dark cells.”

Colombian authorities convicted Lehder for drug trafficking in 1995, while he was serving the separate sentence at a U.S. prison. The cartel boss was sentenced to 24 years in prison in Colombia, meaning his sentence expired in 2019, according to Colombian law.

The son of a German immigrant who arrived in Colombia in the 1920s, Lehder began his criminal career in the 1970s when he lived with relatives in New York City.

He used his contacts and his knowledge of English to open cocaine markets for the Medellin Cartel and became a key ally of its boss Pablo Escobar. Lehder bought land in the Bahamas that became a crucial stopover point for cocaine flights.

In Colombia, he owned a luxurious rural hotel known as the Posada Alemana, which had caged lions on its grounds and a large statue of Lehder’s favorite musician, John Lennon.

In the U.S., Lehder was initially sentenced to life in prison but managed to reduce his sentence by providing U.S. investigators with information that was used to prosecute Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.