Former Medellin Cartel Leader and Associate of Pablo Escobar Released From U.S. Prison After Serving 25-Year Sentence

For years, the Medellín Cartel was the most powerful and influential drug cartel in the world. Led by Pablo Escobar, the drug trafficking organization produced and supplied most of the world's cocaine. As InSight Crime estimates, the Medellin Cartel earned around $420 million in revenue per week during its peak era in the mid-1980s.

Although he was the face of the cartel, Escobar did not work alone. His main partner in the business was his cousin Gustavo Gaviria, who handled shipping and logistics. Other important members included Roberto Escobar, Pablo's brother, and the Ochoa Vásquez siblings: Jorge Luis, Juan David and Fabio.

Fabio Ochoa Vásquez was captured and imprisoned in the U.S. after the cartel fell. But now he has been released 25 years after his conviction. Records from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons show Ochoa Vásquez was released on Dec. 3 after completing 25 years of a 30-year prison sentence. He is now expected to be deported back to Colombia.

Ochoa Vásquez remains under custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to CNN, Colombia's Attorney General's Office continues to investigate if Ochoa has any pending warrants with authorities in his home country.

Even though he was the youngest of the three brothers, Fabio was believed to be the "chief executive" of the family business, according to a 1995 New York Times article. The siblings amassed a fortune in the drug-trafficking business to the point that Forbes Magazine included them in its lists of global billionaires between 1987 and 1992.

But despite all their success and power, the Ochoa Vásquez siblings turned themselves in under a government program promising drug kingpins would not be extradited to the U.S.

Fabio, one of the most notorious leaders of the Medellín Cartel, served a short sentence in Colombia and was released in 1996. But shortly after, in 1999, he was arrested again and extradited to the United States two years later, where he was sentenced to 30 years behind bars after an indictment in Miami named him and more than 40 other people as part of a drug smuggling conspiracy.

"He won't be retiring a poor man"

Once part of Forbes' billionaire lists, Ochoa Vásquez won't find it difficult in life after prison, according to a retired U.S. attorney.

Richard Gregorie, a former attorney who was on the prosecution team that convicted Ochoa in the early 2000s, told the AP that Fabio Ochoa Vásquez "won't be retiring a poor man" as authorities were never able to seize all of the Ochoa family's illicit drug proceeds.

Despite Gregorie's comments, Colombian police was able to seize real estate that belonged to the Ochoa Vásquez family. In 2013, the country's national police seized 116 properties valuated at around $6 million.

Previous indictment

Although he was indicted in 2001, his first clash with U.S. authorities came in 1986 due to his alleged role in the murder of Barry Seal, a Drug Enforcement Administration informant who was murdered by contract killers hired by the Medellín Cartel.

Seal's life was popularized in the 2017 film "American Made" starring Tom Cruise.