Franklin resident John Poulos sentenced to 42 years in prison in Colombia for the femicide of Valentina Trespalacios

(CNN) – Franklin native John Poulos has been sentenced to 42 years and 8 months in prison by a Colombian court on Tuesday, June 4. He was found guilty of the aggravated femicide of the young Colombian woman Valentina Trespalacios, as well as of the crimes of concealment, alteration, or destruction of evidence.

The crime occurred in Bogota in January 2023. The victim, Valentina Trespalacios, was a DJ who was beginning to gain success at music festivals and had been in a relationship with Poulos since 2021, according to her family and the lawyers who took her case.

During Tuesday's court hearing, the judge considered that the evidence presented by the prosecution was sufficient to determine Poulos' guilt and impose a prison sentence of 42 years and eight months. This is five years less than that requested by the prosecutors, who had asked for 47 and a half years.

The judge also prohibited Poulos from approaching or attempting to communicate with Trespalacios' family for 20 years and ordered that he be deported from Colombia once he serves his sentence.

Colombia's Attorney General's Office said in a statement that its prosecutors proved that Poulos struck and asphyxiated his partner and tried to hide her body.

"Security camera records show that the assailant wrapped the victim's body, hid it in a suitcase, and left it in a dumpster in the town of Fontibón, in the west of Bogota. He was found there hours later by the authorities," said the institution.

Poulos' defense - who was by his side at the hearing - argued that his client is innocent of femicide, argued that he should be tried for homicide - and therefore receive a lesser sentence - and said he will appeal the sentence.

Poulos was arrested in Panama in January 2023, when he tried to flee to Turkey. He was then deported to Colombia, where he denied the charges against him, was put on trial and this Tuesday, almost a year and a half after the events, was sentenced.