A New York judge convicted three members of Colombia’s largest guerrilla group FARC on Tuesday for the kidnapping of an American in Panama in 2008.
Federal Judge Jed Rakoff found Edilberto Berrio Ortiz, Alejandro Palacios Rengifo and Anderson Chamapuro guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap.
Ortiz, Rengifo, and Chamapuro kidnapped the American in April 2008 in a neighborhood of Panama City. The hostage was released in February 2009 after a family member paid his ransom.
The three guerillas, who were allegedly under the direction of the FARC’s 57th front, were arrested in Colombia in 2009. They were extradited to the United States in late 2010 and early 2011.
Although the charges do carry a maximum life sentence, the United States has guaranteed that the three men will not recieve life sentences.