Two Colombian nationals had been sentenced to 30 and 35 years in jail, respectively, for his or her position in a 2021 automotive bombing that left greater than 40 individuals injured, together with three American troopers.
Andres Fernando Medina Rodriguez, 40, and Ciro Alfonso Gutierrez Ballesteros, 31 had been formally sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 12 after pleading responsible to a number of costs of conspiracy to homicide American troopers.
On June 15, 2021, a automotive bomb went off subsequent to the thirtieth Military Brigade Base in Cucuta, Colombia, near the Colombian border with Venezuela. The assault wounded 44 members of the Colombian army in addition to three Individuals with the U.S. Safety Pressure Help Brigade deployed to the nation.
In accordance with prosecutors, the assault was focusing on the American army personnel. The 2 males labored with the thirty third Entrance, a bunch with ties to Colombia’s Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias or FARC. FARC and Colombia signed a peace settlement in 2016, though dissidents throughout the group proceed to struggle the federal government. As a part of the plot, Medina Rodriguez extensively surveilled the Colombian base. He was a former Colombian military officer who obtained a medical discharge, and he was ready to make use of his connections to get onto the bottom. Prosecutors mentioned that he scoped out the realm particularly utilized by American troopers.
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Following that surveillance, he and Gutierrez Ballesteros introduced a white SUV to the thirty third Entrance, which transformed it right into a vehicle-borne improvised explosive gadget. Medina Rodriguez then drove it to the bottom on June 15. He activated a timer for the bomb after which fled on a bike pushed by Gutierrez Ballesteros.
Medina Rodriguez was extradited to the USA in late 2023, whereas Gutierrez Ballesteros was extradited earlier this 12 months. They confronted as much as life in jail from the fees, earlier than their responsible plea.
“Our most pressing mission and highest precedence is to carry these accountable who goal Individuals, to incorporate the courageous women and men who function members of our uniformed providers domestically and world wide,” U.S. Legal professional Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida mentioned in a press release following the sentencing. “As seen by the jail sentences imposed upon defendants Medina Rodriguez and Gutierrez Ballesteros right now, people who threaten the security and safety of the USA and our fellow Individuals will face the total drive of our nation’s prison justice system.”
