Colombia has extradited a captured leftist rebel who unwittingly helped officials rescue 15 hostages — including Ingrid Betancourt and three American military contractors.
Nancy Conde Rubio was bundled aboard a plane to Florida on Saturday to face charges of terrorism in a U.S. federal court.
Prosecutors say the 37-year-old Conde led a finance and supply operation for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. She is also the former girlfriend of a rebel who helped keep watch over the hostages.
Officials say intercepts of Conde’s telephone calls helped them locate the hostages and paved the way for a Colombian military rescue in July 2008.
Conde leaves a 3-year-old son in Colombia.