NEW YORK, Oct 18, 2022(BSS/AFP) - A notorious Colombian drug lord, nicknamed Don Mario, was sentenced to 35 years in a US prison, authorities said Monday.

Last year, Don Mario, whose real name is Daniel Rendon Herrera, pleaded guilty in a New York court to running a criminal enterprise and conspiring to support a designated terrorist group called the Clan del Golfo (Gulf clan).

The sentence "marks the end of the criminal career of Rendon Herrera," once the "most feared narco-terrorist in Colombia," said Breon Peace, prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

Rendon Herrera used to be a leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as AUC, which the US government designated in 2001 as a global terrorism organization.

He admitted in court "to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization that brutally killed, kidnapped, and tortured rival drug traffickers and civilians," the US Justice Department said in a statement.

Rendon Herrera also admitted to having trafficked more than 80 tons of cocaine as part of his billion-dollar cocaine empire.

In addition to his jail term, Judge Doris Irizarry ordered the capo, who is 57 and from Antioquia departmrent, to pay $45.7 million in damages.