Colombian paramilitary warlord wanted in US on drug charges walks from jail under peace deal

FILE - This July 10, 2007 file photo shows former United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia's, AUC, paramilitary commander Rodrigo Perez Alzate, alias Julian Bolivar, during a court hearing in Medellin, Colombia. The prominent Colombian paramilitary warlord wanted in the U.S. on drug charges was freed from a Colombian jail Friday, May 22, 2015, after completing the maximum eight years stipulated in the peace framework law for former militia members who confess their war crimes to prosecutors and compensate victims. (AP Photo/ Luis Benavides, File) (The Associated Press)

BOGOTA, Colombia – A prominent Colombian paramilitary warlord wanted in the U.S. on drug charges has walked from a Colombian jail, becoming the first major paramilitary leader to earn their freedom as part of a decade-old peace deal.

Rodrigo Perez is better known by his alias Julian Bolivar. He and hundreds of right-wing fighters in the once-impenetrable war zone near the Magdalena River surrendered in 2006 in exchange for a government promise of reduced prison sentences.

He was freed Friday after completing the maximum eight years stipulated in the peace framework law for former militia members who confess their war crimes to prosecutors and compensate victims.

Several other paramilitary leaders are in line to be freed but are having their furloughs held up over objections they aren't fully cooperating with the justice system.