The accused leader of a prominent Colombian criminal group plans to change his plea in a U.S. drug trafficking case after pleading not guilty last May, records in Brooklyn federal court showed on Friday.

Dairo Antonio Usuga, better known as Otoniel, is scheduled on Jan. 25 for a change-of-plea hearing, which normally signals a forthcoming guilty plea, before U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry in Brooklyn.

Usuga, as the leader of the Clan del Golfo cartel, had been "one of the most dangerous, most wanted drug kingpins in the world," and smuggled "outrageous" amounts of cocaine into the United States from June 2003 until his arrest.

He faced up to life in prison on those counts, and has been jailed at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.

Usuga has also been indicted on drug-related charges in Manhattan and Miami. Those cases have been transferred to Brooklyn, and are part of the defendant's change-of-plea hearing, court records show.