Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez was convicted Monday of bribing a witness and procedural fraud, following several hours of sentencing.

Mr. Uribe, a towering figure in Colombian politics, was accused of trying to bribe a former paramilitary to retract testimony damaging to him.

A Colombian judge on Monday convicted former President Alvaro Uribe of abuse of process and bribery of a public official in a long-running witness tampering case, making him the country’s first ex-president to ever be found guilty at trial.