Colombian Woman Returning From US Facing Up To 8 Years Prison For Violating Quarantine To Drink Liquor & Eat Barbecue; American Husband To Be Deported

Earlier this week a Colombian woman and her American husband were arrested by Colombian authorities for violating quarantine orders after arriving from California, in the US. The couple were told to abide by a mandatory quarantine order that could be served in their hotel, but instead, the couple allegedly went to a barbecue and “to drink liquor” in Zipaquirá, a rural exurb outside of Bogotá. Authorities caught the pair walking on the street, apparently without excuse for their actions.

The husband is being processed by Migration Colombia, Colombia’s border & immigration authority, for expulsion and deportation back to the United States. The woman, who’s name has not been released, faces between 4 and 8 years of prison.

“Whoever does not comply with the health protocols to counteract propagation of COVID-19 in the country will incur, under the crime of violating sanitary protocols and propagation of an epidemic contemplated in articles 368 & 369 of the penal code, said the prosecutor general’s office in a statement.

The woman pled not guilty in an arraignment by video Wednesday night. Prosecutors Thursday morning asked for house-arrest as she awaits the judicial process “in order to protect the community” from any possible infection.

Felicito al comandante de la @PoliciaCmarca CR. César Castro, por la captura y judicialización de una mujer que incumplió la medida de aislamiento frente al coronavirus en jurisdicción de nuestro Departamento. Debemos actuar con responsabilidad ¡El coronavirus no es un juego! pic.twitter.com/ErEnuMjYpN

— Nicolás García Bustos (@nicolasgarciab) March 19, 2020

Photo from the Twitter account @nicolasgarciab of the governor of Cundinamarca and former mayor of Mosquera Nicolás García Bustos