Operation Hurricane: Only 2 Convicted Individuals Will Serve Actual Prison Time Despite Multiple Charges

Original article: Operación Huracán: Solo 2 condenados cumplirán prisión efectiva a pesar de comprobarse múltiples delitos

On Thursday, April 2, the Oral Criminal Court in Temuco announced its verdict for the six defendants involved in the «Operation Hurricane» case, where they were accused of document forgery and obstruction of justice.

Despite the numerous offenses proven during the investigation, the court decided that only two defendants will serve actual prison time: Alex Smith, the creator of the ‘Antorcha’ software, sentenced to 12 years (including a reduction for time previously spent under precautionary measures), and former Carabinero captain, Leonardo Osses, who received a 10-year sentence.

Both Smith and Osses were convicted as perpetrators of public document forgery, obstruction of the investigation, and qualified obstruction of justice.

For the remaining defendants – all former Carabineros officials – the court set penalties that may be substituted for an intensive supervised release program.

Initially, General Gonzalo Blu received a single sentence of 5 years of minor imprisonment at the maximum degree for 5 counts of public document forgery and 3 counts of obstruction of the investigation, which he will serve under intensive supervised release while being credited with 1,793 days for the time he spent under precautionary measures.

The same sentence was handed to Major Patricio Marín for the same offenses, also with a credit of 1,409 days.

Meanwhile, Colonel Marcelo Teuber was sentenced to 3 years and one day of imprisonment for public document forgery, plus an additional 100 days for obstruction of the investigation, which will also be served under intensive supervised release.

Finally, Corporal Manuel Riquelme was sentenced to 100 days of imprisonment for public document forgery and 21 days for obstruction of the investigation. He will also fulfill both sentences under supervised release.

It is worth noting that the plaintiff had requested 7 years of prison time for Colonel Teuber and Corporal Riquelme from Labocar, 13 years for Major Marín Lazo and General Gonzalo Blu, and 16 and 19 years of effective imprisonment for Captain Leonardo Osses and Alex Smith, respectively.

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In-Depth Look at the Anti-Mapuche Setup «Operation Hurricane»: The Fall of the High Command of National Intelligence of Carabineros

El Ciudadano