And what do you think? The ploy deflected suspicion. Matias Varela, the actor who portrays Salcedo, believes his real-life. No sign of Miguel, the agents told him. Salcedo pleaded guilty in Miami to a single count of racketeering. In telephone interviews ranging from a few minutes to more than an hour, he shared details of his role in the cartel and occasional frustrations with life in U.S. exile. I immediately started investigating the leak.. They told him his skills were required to end Escobars reign of terror and to help protect them and their families. Desperate for protection from what they feared most extradition to the U.S. the cartel bosses poured millions of dollars into the bank accounts of Colombian politicians. He started his career designing forklifts and other machinery. One of the few who consistently knew where to find them was Salcedo. Calling on a secure phone line from an undisclosed location, Salcedo, now in his late 60s, spoke at length about his time with the cartel, his life since then in the federal witness protection program, and all the things the show gets rightincluding some of the most harrowing scenes. So she was forced into being a full-time student. The cartel had important friends in the military, too from helicopter pilots to generals. But descending through a cloud bank, one of the choppers hit a mountaintop. [3][pageneeded], In 1995, Gilberto Rodrguez Orejuela was captured by a joint task-force in Cali. Salcedo was ordered to arrange an aerial bomb attack on the prison. But people should know what I know now. I will say, though it's horrendous, it's not far from the [actual] happenings. Though that law was repealed after the politicians behind it were exposed for taking bribes, the brothers remained in Bogots La Picota prison, beyond the reach of U.S. authorities. Jorge Salcedo told the judge that he joined in the college admissions bribery scheme because he was desperate for cash after buying a house his family couldn't afford. Offers may be subject to change without notice. No Career Information Occupation Sicario Affiliation Cali cartel Medelln cartel (spy) Years active 1980s-1995 Appearances First Explosivos (Narcos) Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. The families were huge. I got to know I was excluded when I got a call saying I had to get there. Dr. Salcedo is a warm and compassionate family physician who has been in private practice in Houston, Texas since 2017. He held university degrees in mechanical engineering and industrial economics. Within days, Salcedo and Agent Kacerosky were on the phone together. Local authorities closed in. So first thing was her learning English properly. So they needed to capture all the politicians onto their side. Jorge Salcedos contacts with The Times began with a handshake in Miami during a brief court appearance in October 1998. Salcedo later came to work in the field of security. At the same time, rival cocaine cartels were warring, killing police, judges, politicians and bystanders. The official end of the notorious Cali cocaine cartel came in 2006 in Miami with little more than the rap of a judge's gavel. He was relocated to the U.S. along with his wife and children in 1995 and taken into the federal witness protection program. He was removed from his post in the reserve. So your first assignment was to nail Pablo Escobar? The dons said Salcedos skills were required to end Escobars reign of terror and protect them and their families. Jorge Salcedo, who pleaded guilty to accepting $200,000 in bribes to fraudulently admit students to UCLA, will serve eight months in prison after receiving a sentence from a federal judge Friday.. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Jorge Salcedo, formerly a men's soccer coach at the University of California, Los Angeles, was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of $200,000.In January Salcedo agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery for his role in the admissions scandal. Thus was Salcedo drafted into the Cali cartel. 1 Courthouse Way, Suite 9200 A former UCLA mens soccer coach was sentenced to eight months behind bars for his role in the sweeping college admissions bribery scheme that brought down dozens of school officials and well-heeled parents. Miguel, the younger of the two Orejuela brothers, was more direct: He wanted Escobar, the most powerful criminal in the world, dead. 2. They were having a meeting, and they were excluding me of everything. At the same time, rival cocaine cartels were warring with one another, killing scores of police, judges, politicians and innocent bystanders. So I had sympathy [for the Cali Cartel's goals] at that time. My primary job in the Cali cartel was security for one of four godfathers, Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, the daily operations boss. In the years since, he has made sporadic telephone calls to a Times reporter from undisclosed locations. So they had a lot of questions. Where were you? He stayed close to Miguel and his family, at every opportunity sharing car rides and meeting with them alone to let his vulnerability erode suspicions. He had emerged bleeding, an angry, wounded bear, apparently injured by one of the power drills. The raid operated off of documents seized from an inspection of an office owned and operated by Guillermo Pallomari, the cartel's chief accountant. He is still No. He started his career designing forklifts and other machinery. [3][pageneeded] During this time, the Search Blocoriginally formed to hunt Escobarfocused its attention on the Cali Cartel. The police demanded identity papers and prepared to search their cars. I had to watch him strangle them, Salcedo said. He can also be found on staff at Seton Family of Doctors at Williamson. The entire cartel brain trust would go to jail in exchange for a limited five-year sentence to be served at a prison built, or substantially remodeled, at cartel expense. I did not go near it. Jorge Salcedo admitted to participating in the college admissions bribery scheme involving . Cartel bosses launched an internal bloodbath targeting other extraditables. "I got a call from Miguel, and he said, 'You have to be get me out of this . Narcos recap: You Will Cry Tears of Blood. Its secret chamber gave up a trove of records that delighted Serrano -- 30,000 checks, cartel payments to police, 150 politicians, reporters, everyone, Salcedo said. He had put a bomb in the building that destroyed the equivalent of the FBI in Colombia. Widespread arrests and firings followed, and the grip of corruption was broken. He traveled to El Salvador and, through a military contact, purchased four 500-pound bombs for about half a million dollars. But a few months after then, everything was falling. The cartel official has lost his home, his country, his past, even his name. I was buying four U.S.-made bombs 500-pounders that the bosses wanted to drop on Pablo Escobar. Do you have an example of something that might have been embellished? We found a house, and my children were small, so I was taking care of school and friends and everything. Obviously, Im not looking for celebrity -- it would jeopardize our safety, he told The Times. Only three fit, stacked in the passenger cabin. A second assault was planned, this time from a base in Panama. Pablo Escobar of Medellin was a bandit a criminal a crazy guy who was threatening to kill their wives and children. Was that true to life? Join CNN Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on Twitter, The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jorge Salcedo. [Escobar] was bad, killing soldiers and civilians. Pallomari did not trust the cartels chief of security, but he went to another hideout. So there's one very tense scene in the show where you're taken to a farmhouse for what you thought would be a meeting. The story in general remains the same [as the truth]. The Bogot team listened, tapped on cement walls and floors, then pulled out power drills and bored into suspicious areas. Salcedo said he takes complete responsibility for his actions that have destroyed the life he knew. His information on the cartelOperation Cornerstoneled to its eventual disbandment, as a result of which Salcedo and his family have entered the United States Federal Witness Protection Program. In 1994, Salcedo was sent with the cartels chief enforcer to a farmhouse outside Cali. The billionaire fugitives continued to manage the syndicate while moving from one safe house to another. How has your life under witness protection been? Lo sac de Colombia, le dio otra identidad y lo ubic en una direccin desconocida en Estados Unidos en la que hasta hoy permanece oculto. By unnerving coincidence, they were looking for the killer of a taxi driver. He also knew who was marked for assassination. From somewhere deep inside the federal witness protection program that harbors him and his family, he has shared pieces of his story in sporadic telephone conversations with a reporter. Business improved noticeably after December 1993. The former Jorge Salcedo remains in hiding -- his location unknown even to his lawyer -- somewhere in the United States. Then he got another opportunity and called his DEA contacts in Bogota. I spent more than six years in the biggest, richest syndicate in the history of crime the Cali cartel. When I agreed to assist U.S. drug enforcement agents 16 years ago, the Cali cartel was making $7 billion a year. Then, said U.S. prosecutor Ryan, the bodies began to show up.. A federal judge in Boston on Friday sentenced former UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo to eight months in prison followed by a year of supervised release for taking $200,000 in bribes to help secure the admission of two students as part of the nationwide scheme prosecutors dubbed "Varsity Blues." Whereas his previous role involved avoiding detection from Escobar's network, Salcedo now assisted Cali's men with avoiding detection by the National Police of Colombia. He saw traitors everywhere.. All Rights Reserved. entrevista realizada por La W a quien fuera por varios aos jefe de seguridad de Miguel Rodrguez Orejuela, Jorge Salcedo. Right, they fail, but at the same time, Miguel has figured you out and is trying to kill you with a plastic bag over your head. The early 1990s were the golden years for the cartel. says the actress. Back then, GPS was in the hands of the military only, and I had them. I had no option. Actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, are among those jailed in the scandal. If you've finished the season, you probably know that he's currently under witness protection in the United States. He made an excuse and tried to leave. Still no sign of Miguel, the agents told him. Jorge "El Navegante" Velasquez was born in Colombia, and he became a . But in Cali, Salcedo found personal safety as he settled in to managing security for the Orejuela family. Salcedo insisted that the drug lord was there. I've never seen so many important people in terms of the movies and TV sector. He had been summoned to the hide-out to give an impatient Miguel a detailed report. It was, Agent Kacerosky later would observe tersely, historical., Salcedo pleaded guilty in Miami to a single count of racketeering and, at an unusual sentencing hearing, was universally praised by agents and prosecutors who recommended unprecedented leniency. Postal Service was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for stealing packages containing cocaine on at least eight occasions. Caught sitting in a car by Navegante, the two have a creepy chat before Navegante pulls his gun . Because at that point, they were suspecting about me. He became a new king, and my position was: He's the worst enemy I have. The risk was so incredible, Agent Kacerosky said in testimony. Salcedo did not comply with his orders and pretended to not know where Pallomari was, believing Pallomari to be his bargaining chip for his freedom. The man has lost much of what he once took for granted: his home, his country, his name, even his past. The mostly British mercenaries were in hotels for nearly two months awaiting orders to attack. They have not yet been sentenced. Let it pass.". I didn't have to be there. Then there were the two checks signed by Miguel worth about $50,000. That was attempt number one [to arrest Miguel]. Anti-government guerrilla groups unleashed waves of kidnappings that terrorized the nation. It was an absurd idea. I had to go. He was chief of security for Colombia's Cali cocaine syndicate when he fled cartel assassins and corrupt police hit men for safety and a new life in the U.S. witness protection program. Jorge Salcedo is a Colombian civil engineer who worked in the Army during the 1980s. [5], Salcedo was portrayed by Matias Varela in the third season of the Netflix-produced television series Narcos. He also directed the raiding party to a desk in one of the rooms. A daily brisk walk could lower risk for early death. He traveled to El Salvador and, through military contacts, purchased four 500-pound bombs for about a half-million dollars. Salcedo, 48, pleaded guilty in July to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering. My strategy was to avoid confrontation. Finally, Escobar went to prison, where he continued to run his cartel and menace rivals from his cell. He became proficient in electronic surveillance, which increasingly drew him into counter-terrorism assignments. For a . After Pablo was dead, I said, "I'm going. I had to lose my old name, and I've been working as an engineer under my new name. He and his bodyguard were gunned down as they fled. Meanwhile, he beefed up security for the Orejuela brothers and their families. Furthermore, the American drug agents were armed, a violation of Colombian law. Salcedos military service in the late 1980s coincided with one of Colombias bloodiest periods. Salcedo waited for the chance to use a public phone at a Cali telecommunications building. Meanwhile, U.S. pressure on the Bogot government was forcing Colombian authorities to crack down on the violent cartels. My role kept changing. In December '88, my friend retired from the army abruptly. I came here to protect you and your family, but I left my business behind, so I'm done." I wasn't there, but I had people who were actually in the execution of these things. And the Medellin gangs knew he was plotting to kill Escobar. [3][pageneeded], Salcedo stayed in Colombia, awaiting diplomatic permission from the Colombia government to leave. If that call didn't happen, I most likely wouldn't be alive. Salcedo met Carlo Cordova while serving in the Colombian Army and was recruited into Cordova's security firm, which provided security to the Cali cartel. Salcedo said they got bored and rowdy. Not with Harleys, they used two Land Cruisers. Salcedo accepted $200,000 in bribes as part of the college admissions bribery scheme across the country. For his service, the relocated Colombian received rewards of about $1.7 million. Yes, well, William Rodriguez was his oldest son and his successor. Salcedo was a prime suspect, one of only five to 10 people who knew where Miguel was hiding. It was one of those things, I think the DEA guys did that. Well, it's been a very different life from what people usually do at this time [in their life]. Eran mediados de 1995 cuando un grupo del. Another attempt with a car bomb succeeded only in injuring one of Escobars children. Ex-UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo sentenced for taking kickbacks in college admissions scandal By Jesse O'Neill March 20, 2021 9:53pm Updated Former UCLA soccer coach Jorge Salcedo was sentenced to. I saw one episode, the first or something, where they pull apart one bad guy with two motorcycles. And William would be there, and he was given jobs too. 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