Prosecutors  open capo’s early release probe

The Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has taken the first steps in the investigation of irregularities in the premature release, on September 14, 2020, of José Cossio, designated by authorities as the capo of the Calor Calor gang.

Among the proceedings is an inspection by the First Criminal Court for Liquidation, in which information was sought on the procedure carried out to release him.

Sources linked to the investigation said that the prosecution asked the First Liquidating Court for details of the resolutions by which the alternate judge Gerardo Ríos ordered the release of Cossio, as well as copies of the sentence in which he was convicted of crimes related to drugs and the requests for release presented by the detainee’s lawyers.

The prosecution also asked the Penitentiary System Directorate for a report on Cossio’s permanence in the Punta Coco Penitentiary Center and the offices by which his release from that island prison was authorized.

Cossio was sentenced to 74 months in jail for drug-related offenses on January 10, 2019; the judgment was confirmed by the Second Court of Justice, on January 31, 2020.

On September 3, the presiding magistrate of the Court, Luis Ramón Fábrega, and the president of the Criminal Chamber of the Court, María Eugenia López Arias, filed a complaint as a result of the irregularities in the release of Cossio.

Cossio was arrested on the night of August 28 at a police checkpoint in Costa del Este, after the release order issued by Judge Ríos was revoked.

The detainee was sent back to the Punta Coco prison, where there are 11 other inmates considered of maximum danger.