A Costa Rican judge has been suspended for committing a “serious fault” in her decision to convert the sentencing of two Mexican drug traffickers to house arrest, allowing them to live in their condominiums, just a door between them and the general public.
After an October 2010 plane crash revealed the two Mexican men were attempting to move nearly 180 kilos of cocaine, police began a search.
Officers caught the men as they attempted to flee Costa Rica with large sums of money.
However, though they were clearly trying to leave the country, when brought before Judge Kattia Jiménez, their jail sentence was ultimately converted to house arrest, and the traffickers were allowed to stay in their luxurious condos.
After the community expressed their outrage over the judges decision, and an investigation has been launched into the conduct of Judge Jiménez in this case.
For now, the judge has been taken off the case and suspended without pay, with the Plenary Chamber of the Supreme Court citing Article 142 of their Criminal Procedure Code, which states that judgments are to be clear and rational.
