Abelardo De La Espriella, the president-elect of Colombia, assisted several accused Latin American drug traffickers and others to avoid significant prison sentences in the United States by advising them as their lawyer to turn into government informants and witnesses. 

According to The New York Times, court records showed that the 47-year-old politician, who was elected with President Donald Trump’s backing, also employed a former Colombian trafficker who helped lawyers in South Florida recruit clients involved in the same line of business.

Mr De La Espriella, a U.S. citizen and licensed lawyer in Colombia, often travelled between the South American country to meet with individuals facing criminal prosecution in the United States.

One of the clients Mr De La Espriella reportedly handled was Colombian-born Venezuelan businessman Alex Saab, whom the U.S. government charged with eight counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. 

Mr Saab was extradited from Cape Verde to the United States in 2021 following his arrest the year prior before being released to Venezuela as part of a 2023 prisoner exchange. 

Court records showed that he became a confidential informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, but the cooperation later broke down. He was rearrested in February this year and currently remains in custody pending trial. 

The Times reported that Mr De La Espriella himself was a subject of investigation by federal prosecutors in Florida and New York as part of their probe into the illicit money Mr Saab funnelled through the American banking system, but no charge was brought against him. 

The basis of the probe into Mr De La Espriella remains unclear. The Times uncovered that the trafficker employed by the politician to recruit clients pleaded guilty to laundering money from Mr Saab’s overseas accounts around 2017.

Additionally, court documents reveal that the fund was marked as payment for Mr Saab’s lawyers, whose names were redacted in filings.