Ex-Colombian official sentenced to 12 years in money laundering case tied to DEA misconduct
Omar Ambuila, 64, pleaded guilty on the second day of a trial this year that had been expected to shed new light on a misconduct scandal in which more than a dozen U.S. federal agents were quietly disciplined or ousted from their jobs.
Among the would-be witnesses was José Irizarry, a DEA agent now serving a 12-year prison sentence for skimming millions of dollars from money laundering stings to fund a decade's worth of luxury overseas travel, fine dining, top seats at sporting events and frat house-style debauchery.
Prosecutors said Ambuila deserved a harsh sentence for abusing his trust as one of the highest-ranking officials at the Colombian port of Buenaventura, a major transit point for U.S.-bound cocaine.
At one point, prosecutors said, Ambuila held himself out as a retired soccer player while buying a Lamborghini to conceal 'the corrupt nature' of his wealth. Prosecutor Joseph Palazzo told a judge in Tampa federal court that Ambuila had made a series of 'particularly obscene purchases' in Miami, including the luxury vehicle and rental waterfront properties.
'This is not about someone from extremely deprived or humble beginnings going down a wayward path reluctantly,' Palazzo said. 'This was a calculated crime.'
U.S. District Court Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington called the corruption 'heartbreaking.'
'This is a person who was a public official engaged in very serious misconduct,' she said.
Prosecutors had previously offered Ambuila a sentence of about three years — or time served dating to his 2021 arrest — followed by deportation to Colombia. The scheme involved more than two dozen bank accounts and 30,000 audio files from wiretapped conversations. But he rejected that earlier.
Ambuila's attorney, Victor D. Martinez, asked for leniency, arguing Ambuila was less culpable than Irizarry.
'Greed born from association with a corrupt DEA agent shattered Mr. Ambuila's vision for his future,' Martinez wrote in a court filing. Ambuila, he added, 'is deeply repentant and tortures himself every day questioning his conduct and regretting his lack of moral fortitude.'
The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Homeland Security first suspected Ambuila after his daughter posted photos of herself carrying designer handbags, taking luxury vacations to Paris and driving a $330,000 red Lamborghini.
That lavish lifestyle didn't match the 20-something University of Miami graduate's modest income as a social media influencer or that of her father, who earned about $2,000 a month.
A chunk of the funds used to pay for the Lamborghini Huracan Spyder originated in an account controlled by Jhon Marín, whom an IRS criminal investigator described at trial as the Florida-based nephew of a 'known contraband smuggler in Colombia.'
An Associated Press investigation previously identified Marin's uncle as Diego Marín, a longtime DEA informant known to investigators as Colombia's 'Contraband King' for allegedly laundering money through imported appliances and other goods.
Marín has not been charged in the U.S. But prosecutors in Colombia last year requested his extradition from Spain, where he was living, to face criminal charges. His attorneys declined to comment.
In Tampa federal court Thursday, Ambuila apologized to the United States and said he pleaded guilty midway through trial. 'I was thinking about my daughter and how it would impact her,' he said. 'I was thinking I'd get a sentence of time served.'
—-
Mustian reported from New Orleans.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
5-Year-Old Girl Escapes Shooting Covering in Blood Splatter After Man Allegedly Kills 3 Women in Florida Home: Police
The shooting occurred at a residence in Nassau County, Fla. on the evening of Thursday, July 24 A 5-year-old girl managed to escape without being hurt after three females were shot and killed by a gunman in a home in Florida, authorities have said. On Thursday, July 24 at around 8 p.m. local time, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a possible shooting on West 12th Avenue in Hilliard, Nassau County, Sheriff Bill Leeper said at a news conference, per a clip shared by First Coast News. Leeper told reporters the incident was "tragic," adding, "It's heartbreaking and totally, totally was unnecessary." He explained that "deputies [had] responded to the residence and attempted to make contact with anyone inside." 'We got no response. They tried to look through open windows to see if there were any signs of people inside. As they checked the front door, they found it to be unlocked, so they opened the door and announced who they were and called out for anyone, but got no response," Leeper said. Officers who entered the residence then saw a female "on the floor, between the living room and dining room, lying in blood," before noticing a male subject in the living room, with a black assault-style rifle beside him. Another female was discovered deceased in the hallway bathroom and a further deceased female was found in a bedroom across the hall from the bathroom. The male had a "slight pulse," and was airlifted to hospital, the sheriff told reporters. The male suspect — who has been identified as Christopher Bobby Rowell, 34 — is now clinically dead, the officer said. Leeper confirmed the gun found next to him was a black 'SKS-style 7.62 caliber assault rifle.' 'It appears the shooter first shot the female in the living room, dining room area, then shot the female in the bathroom, and then shot the female in the bedroom,' the sheriff told reporters. 'He eventually returned to the living room where he shot himself in the head.' Discussing the 5-year-old's escape, the sheriff said, "A neighbor across the street reported that a 5-year-old female, who was inside the residence at the time of the shooting, came to their house, banging on the door and stated the suspect had killed others inside the home," adding that they then called 911. "The child said she was in the back of the house, heard a gun shot, she came down the hallway, seen [the] female on the floor,' Leeper said at the conference. 'Another female grabbed her, put her in the bathroom." And when the woman who pulled the little girl into the bathroom was shot, Leeper said the 5-year-old "got blood splatter on her." The sheriff told reporters the little girl "was in shock, naturally,' following the incident. 'She's a very strong little girl. Very brave. Beautiful girl. She's with other relatives at this time. So she's safe, but she was traumatized," he said during the conference. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. All those involved in the shooting were related, the sheriff said, but he declined to mention how at the moment. He told reporters that this was "some type of domestic incident," and said further details would eventually be released amid the ongoing investigation. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information. Read the original article on People
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Murder trial for Hallandale Beach man accused of killing wife with spear set to begin
A trial is set to get underway Monday for a Hallandale Beach man accused of killing his wife with a spear. According to the police arrest report, Adam Crespo, 49, and his wife Silvia Galva Crespo got into an argument on July 12, 2019, in their condominium. At one point, according to the report, he tried to pull her off a bed but she grabbed onto a nearby spear to keep herself in place. "At the corners of the foot of the is a spear approximately a five-foot spear with a 12" double sided metal blade. As the defendant was pulling the victim off the bed the victim grabbed onto the wooden shaft of the spear," the report said. According to the report, while Crespo was still pulling her from the bed he heard a snap. It said he turned around and saw that the blade had penetrated Galva's chest. "(Adam Crespo) pulled the blade out of the victim's chest 'hoping it was not too bad'," according to the report. A friend called 911 while Crespo put pressure on the wound. Galva died from her injury. Crespo was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The arrest report says, "the actions of the defendant caused the victim to grab the spear to keep herself on the bed. The force used by the defendant to remove the victim caused the shaft to break and in an unknown way caused the blade to pierce the victim which caused the loss of life." Crespo has pleaded not guilty. Recordings from a pair of Amazon Echo devices inside the condo may be used as key evidence in the trial.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
The DOJ to Ghislaine Maxwell: ‘Pardon me, do you mind lying and denying for Donald Trump?'
If you ever needed proof that we've fallen down a moral garbage chute into a flaming dumpster of corruption and good old-fashioned sleazeballness, look no further than the fact that Donald Trump's Department of Justice has been meeting with someone the department convicted of being a sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. This is one giant tangled mess of a stench-laden landfill. Because it wasn't just another DOJ official. It was Todd Blanche, second in command and Trump's former personal attorney. A stinky landfill doesn't even begin to describe it. The DOJ is supposedly meeting with her about the Epstein files. Right. Just a little discussion about something Maxwell already gave a deposition for, that trials were held about, that newspapers and television reported on, and where victims bravely came forward. So what 'newness' does Maxwell bring to this sordid scandal? If you think that the DOJ is meeting with her to discuss the 'files,' then you forgot about this moment of sleazeballness we're in the thick of right now. They are surely negotiating a quid pro quo. If you say that you never saw Donald with Jeffrey, we'll slide a 'get out of jail for free' card under your cell door soon. The mysterious DOJ meeting follows the action of the House Republicans who brazenly recessed early without acting on a bill to force the release of those very files. Gee, wonder why they'd do that? Oh, right, because Donald called his measly little House speaker and said, 'Save me, or I'll ride your ass hard.' Or words to that effect. DOJ officials made time to huddle with a woman serving 20 years in federal prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein rape and abuse underage girls. And House Republicans are slimily protecting one of the people in those files, the dictatorial leader, Donald Trump. Yes, House Republicans subpoenaed Maxwell for a congressional hearing in the fall, but so much more sliminess can happen between now and then. Like, for example, Maxwell mysteriously disappearing? Who really knows at this point? Let's call this what it is: pure old-fashioned state-sanctioned witness tampering and narrative laundering. The DOJ and the House GOP aren't seeking the truth. They're looking for an alibi and deniability, and they've chosen the most crooked source possible to manufacture one. Ghislaine Maxwell is not just a convicted felon. She's a convicted pedophile. She orchestrated an international child sex ring alongside one of the most notorious predators of the 21st century. And now, according to multiple reports, she's meeting with officials at the highest levels of the federal government, the DOJ, to discuss the Epstein list and what she might know about Trump's connection to it. Why? Because Trump's name reportedly appears in the files. And because the truth is closing in on him, and he's scared shitless, so he's pulling out all the stops. Of course Maxwell is going to say whatever she thinks will save her. She's a caged co-conspirator with a long history of privilege, manipulation, and perversion. If a pardon is dangling within reach, she'll craft whatever fairy tale the Trump team needs. "Trump had nothing to do with Epstein." Boom. Done. Expect that line to headline Fox News before the summer is out. She is a proven liar. A child abuser. A felon. Would you believe her? A lying, disgusting pedophile? After the DOJ's meeting with Maxwell, House Republicans quickly subpoenaed her to testify. Publicly. As if she's suddenly a credible source. As if her criminal background somehow makes her more trustworthy than the brave survivors who've been silenced for decades. And don't insult our intelligence by claiming this isn't pre-scripted political theater. These hearings, like every other MAGA-led charade, are choreographed to the last syllable by Republican staffers whose loyalty to Trump overrides any allegiance to the truth. Why Maxwell? Why not the women who were brutalized as children? Why are survivors once again being ignored while the enablers get a platform and potentially a pardon? And don't tell me the DOJ is just "doing its job." This is Trump's DOJ, and it's acting exactly how you'd expect it by whispering with Trump one day, shuttling into prison to meet with Maxwell the next, then leaking just enough to seed a new propaganda cycle. Trump shouldn't be meeting with the DOJ to begin with. This borders on being illegal, but hey, in his first term, Trump pleaded for his own Roy Cohn, instead he got a bleached bomb conspiracy-theorist in Pam Bondi, the next best thing. And yet the Republican Party, the self-proclaimed protector of children and moral values, is letting it happen. Worse, the party is enabling it. Instead of using their power to uncover what really happened, members fled Washington without even taking up a vote that would have forced the release of Epstein's files. They had the chance to shine a light. They chose darkness and vacation. We should be hearing from the survivors. We should be reading the unredacted files. We should be demanding transparency from a government that claims to represent us. Instead, we're being fed Ghislaine Maxwell, polished up and propped on a pedestal, as if she holds some sacred truth, instead of the key to her own freedom. You can't tell me that a pardon is likely already being whispered in her ear. Trump has the audacity, the motive, and the track record. This is a man who pardoned political cronies, war criminals, and corrupt loyalists without a second thought. You think he won't throw a lifeline to the woman who could erase him from the Epstein story? As my grandfather used to say, Trump must think we're dumber than an oyster. But we're not. We know what this is. And we know the damage it's doing, not just to our politics but to our sense of justice. Because here's what can't be spun, sealed, or silenced: Girls were raped. Children were trafficked. Epstein did it. Maxwell enabled it. And there is every reason to believe Donald Trump, the man whose name is in those files, who socialized with Epstein, who has bragged about walking in on teenage girls in dressing rooms, was involved too. I, of course, have to say 'allegedly' here. But I digress. This is not a 'witch hunt.' It's a reckoning. And no amount of slick choreography from DOJ fixers or GOP sycophants is going to stop the truth from getting out. Somehow, someway, in this day and age of cameras everywhere, of whistleblowers (someone gave The Wall Street Journal the birthday book), and no secrets, we can only hope that someone knows the truth. Because the truth is the only thing that's going to clean up all the garbage that is Trump, the DOJ, and the GOP. Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Visit to learn more about submission guidelines. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists, and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride. This article originally appeared on Advocate: The DOJ to Ghislaine Maxwell: 'Pardon me, do you mind lying and denying for Donald Trump?'
