WASHINGTON D.C. – The commander of a Colombian terrorist group pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to taking U.S. citizens hostage for more than five years in 2003, according to federal officials.
Alexander Beltran Herrera, 37, a commander of the FARC terrorist organization, plead guilty to three counts of hostage-taking stemming from the 2003 kidnappings of three U.S. citizens in Colombia.
In July 2008, the Colombian military rescued the hostages, officials said.
“This case underscores our resolve to hold accountable those who target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Carlin.
Under federal law, taking hostages carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. But U.S. prosecutors have agreed not to seek more than 60 years in prison when Beltran Herrera is sentenced, officials said.
According to court evidence, FARC is an armed, violent organization in Colombia, which since its inception in 1964, has engaged in an armed conflict to overthrow the Republic of Colombia, which is South America’s longest-standing democracy.
The FARC has consistently used hostage taking as a primary technique in extorting demands from the Republic of Colombia, and hostage taking has been endorsed and commanded by FARC senior leadership, say U.S. authorities.
The FARC has characterized American citizens as “military targets” and has engaged in violent acts against Americans in Colombia, including murders and hostage taking. The FARC was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and remains so designated, officials said.
Beltran Herrera was involved in the hostage taking of three U. S. citizens: Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes, and Keith Stansell
These three, along with Thomas Janis, a U.S. citizen, and Sgt. Luis Alcides Cruz, a Colombian citizen, were seized on Feb. 13, 2003, by the FARC, after their single-engine aircraft made a crash landing in the Colombian jungle.
Members of the FARC murdered Janis and Sgt. Cruz at the crash site.
Gonsalves, Howes, and Stansell were held by the FARC at gunpoint and were advised by FARC leadership that they would be used as hostages to increase pressure on the Colombian government to agree to the FARC’s demands.
At various times, officials said the FARC marched the hostages from one site to another, placing them in the actual custody of various FARC fronts.
At the conclusion of one 40-day long march, in or about November 2004, officials said the hostages were delivered to members of the FARC’s 27th Front, who imprisoned the hostages for nearly two years.
During this time, Beltran Herrera was responsible for moving the hostages and keeping them imprisoned.
Throughout the captivity of these three hostages, FARC jailors and guards used choke harnesses, chains, padlocks and wires to restrain the hostages, and used force and threats to continue their detention and prevent their escape, according to officials.