By KATI CORNELL
June 18, 2008
A fearsome Colombian warlord and suspected mass murderer was brought to justice yesterday - pleading guilty to federal drug charges that could land him behind bars for the rest of his life.
The long-untouchable Diego Murillo, a k a "Don Berna," defied capture for decades as an underling to coke kingpin Pablo Escobar who went on to control vast regions of Colombia. He finally met his match after an NYPD detective got a tip from an informant that grew into a sweeping five-year federal probe.
"For a long time, we never knew if we would get this guy," said Detective John Barry, who was at Manhattan federal court. "Five years of work . . . It's tremendously gratifying."
Murillo, 47, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in a deal that calls for him to spend between 27 and 33 years behind bars.
Murillo admitted he conspired with military, political and "anti-communist" forces to smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States.
