International Herald Tribune

Monday, January 20, 1997

(New York Times Service)

BOGOTA - In a ruling met with outrage from U.S. diplomats and Columbian justice officials, tte leaders of the Cali drug ring have been sentenced to prison terms of 9 and 10 years. In its heyday, the ring was believed to be responsible for up to 80 percent of cocaine shipments to the United States.

The sentencing of the brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodrigues Orejuela, made public Friday by a judge in Cali, appeared to further dampen the political goodwill of the United States, less than two months before Washington's annual decison on whether to certify Columbia as a country that has made progress in anti-drogue enforcement.

The Columbian chief prosecutor's office announced that it would appel the decision and do everything in its power to "obtain a just sentence, one proportional to the harm caused to society." Under the sentence, the brothers could be free in less than five years.