COLOMBIAN DRUG LORD HANDED 4 MORE YEARS

BOGOTA, Colombia - Four days after a drug lord was ordered released from
prison after serving just half his sentence for drug trafficking, officials
announced Tuesday that a judge had slapped on another four-year sentence
for bribery.

Miguel Rodriguez was ordered freed last week along with his brother
Gilberto, both leaders of the former Cali drug cartel. But a judge in a
separate case handed down another sentence for Miguel Rodriguez on Friday.
The new sentence was not announced until Tuesday.

A spokesman for the attorney general said he wasn't aware of any pending
cases against Gilberto Rodriguez.

President Alvaro Uribe halted the release of the Rodriguez brothers
Saturday, prompting criticism he was interfering with the judicial system.

"Judges are autonomous, and the government can't interfere in their
decisions," Esperanza Delgado, president of the National Association of
Justice Employees, told reporters.

The Rodriguez brothers, responsible for smuggling tons of cocaine into the
United States, managed the world cocaine market after the demise of the
Medellin cartel led by Pablo Escobar.

Judge Pedro Suarez on Friday ordered the brothers released from prison
after seven years behind bars because they participated in a work-study
program to reduce their sentences.

Suarez defended his decision, saying: "I am absolutely confident that I
have acted within the law."

Colombia's inspector general is appealing the decision to release the brothers.