The second court for the execution of sentences of Bogotá has granted conditional freedom to the former Minister of Agriculture, Andrés Felipe Leiva, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for his involvement in the Agro Ingreso Seguro (AIS) scandal. The decision was made because Arias served three-fifths of the sentence imposed by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice for the crimes of undue interest in the execution of contracts and embezzlement by appropriation in favor of third parties.
Arias’ lawyer, Víctor Mosquera, stated that “the former minister has been redeeming his sentence through work and study, effectively complying with the objective and subjective conditions to be worthy of recovering his fundamental right to freedom.” Arias had been under house arrest or ‘house arrest’ since August 2022, after demonstrating good behavior with study and work while at the Infantry School in the north of Bogotá.
Andrés Felipe Arias, former Minister of Agriculture, was convicted in July 2014 for his involvement in the Agro Ingreso Seguro corruption scandal. According to technical details provided by his lawyer, “all objective and subjective aspects were met; This is the physical time and discounts for redemption, given that 125 months and 24 days were served and given that the sentence imposed was established at 209 months and 8 days and that three-fifths of this is equivalent to 125 months and 17 days.”
Arias was serving a sentence for the crimes of contracting without compliance with legal requirements and embezzlement by appropriation. In the ruling, it was indicated that when the Agro Ingreso Seguro program began, the former Minister of Agriculture ignored the principles of state contracting of transparency, planning, economy, and responsibility, and did not prevent individuals who did not comply with the requirements from illegally appropriating AIS resources. The evidence indicated that Arias knew and had control of the activities carried out by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) in the management of AIS resources.
Andrés Felipe Arias was deported from the United States on July 12, 2019, after staying there for five years. According to the Court, the former Minister of Agriculture did nothing to prevent individuals from appropriating the program’s resources, apparently because he knew that they would support him in his political campaign. The sentence imposed on Arias was deemed neither unjust nor excessive, but, on the contrary, respects the motivation process, is proportional, necessary, and founded.