Prisoner in Guatemala runs crime empire from prison

Prisoner in Guatemala runs crime empire from prison
Prisoner in Guatemala runs crime empire from prison

Prisoner in Guatemala runs crime empire from prison

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Former Guatemalan army captain, Byron Lima, was imprisoned on a number of charges, including the murder of Catholic Bishop Juan Gerardi in 1998. But a special UN body, tasked with helping the Guatemalan justice system investigate and prosecute organized crime and corruption, discovered that Lima was running a multi-million dollar crime empire from behind bars. Lima even went in and out of prison at his own discretion. Adriana Beltrán, senior associate for Citizen Security at the Washington Office on Latin America, will talk about new charges against Lima and what the UN-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala is doing to reform the country’s prison system. (photo: Former Guatemalan Army Captain Byron Lima Oliva, sentenced in 2006 to 20 years in jail for the 1998 slaying of Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, speaks with journalist at a courtroom in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo))