DEA informant avoids prison despite $4M tax evasion linked to undercover work

In a case that exposes the murky world of undercover drug enforcement collaborations, Andres Zapata, a long-time informant for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), received no prison time despite admitting to evading taxes on nearly $4 million paid for his operational work. Zapata, extradited from Colombia last year, was sentenced to time served in a federal hearing Wednesday in Austin, Texas. His sentence comes as part of broader cooperation in a decade-long investigation into miscon