A Colombian woman was sentenced this week in the Southern District of Florida for her role in kidnapping and assaulting two U.S. service members on temporary duty in Bogotá, officials stated.
Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran, 35, was sentenced to 262 months in prison and ordered to pay $24,115 in restitution.
She is the third and final defendant sentenced in the conspiracy and pleaded guilty in March 2025 to kidnapping an internationally protected person, officials stated.
“Uribe Chiran and her co-defendants mercilessly preyed on U.S. soldiers when they drugged their drinks, stole their valuables, and left them incapacitated on the street,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Kidnapping and assaulting two U.S. military service members is deplorable and the Criminal Division will continue to prioritize protecting our service members through these prosecutions. I thank the prosecutors and our law enforcement partners who work tirelessly to bring justice to these victims.”
According to court documents, on the night of March 5, 2020, two U.S. soldiers in Bogotá went to an entertainment district to watch a soccer match.
Later, at a pub, Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran and a co-defendant drugged their drinks with benzodiazepines, rendering them unconscious.
The defendants then kidnapped the soldiers, stole their valuables and financial information, and abandoned them separately on the street. They later used the stolen credit and debit cards for purchases and cash withdrawals.
Uribe Chiran was extradited from Colombia to the U.S. in September 2024. Co-defendant Pedro Jose Silva Ochoa was extradited from Chile in April 2024, pleaded guilty that December, and received a 27-year, 3-month sentence in March 2025.
Jeffersson Arango Castellanos was extradited from Colombia in May 2023, pleaded guilty in January 2024, and was sentenced in May 2024 to 48 years and 9 months in prison.