Former President Álvaro Uribe Vélez became the first Colombian head of state to be convicted of a crime, a landmark decision expected to reverberate through the country’s political system less than a year before presidential elections.

BOGOTA, Colombia — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was convicted of witness tampering and bribery charges on Monday, in a historic trial that gripped the South American nation and threatened to tarnish the conservative strongman’s legacy.

A judge on Monday found former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe guilty of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a years-long witness tampering case, making the right-wing politician the country's first ex-president ever convicted at trial.