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FARC Commander Jailed 27 Years for 2003 Hostage-Taking
Alexander Beltran Herrera, a 38-year-old commander of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) terrorist organization, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on federal hostage-taking charges stemming from the 2003 capture of three U.S. citizens in Colombia. The hostages were held captive for 1,967 days.
The sentence was announced by John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Division. Beltran Herrera, also known as Jhon Alexander Beltrain Herrera and Rodrigo Pirinolo, pled guilty on March 18, 2014, to three counts of hostage-taking.
In February 2003, the FARC kidnapped three American citizens – Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes, and Keith Stansell – and held them captive for nearly two thousand days. The hostages were marched from one site to another, placed in the actual custody of various FARC fronts, and were advised by FARC leadership that they would be used as hostages to increase pressure on the government of Colombia to agree to the FARC’s demands.
“In February 2003, the FARC – a Colombian terrorist organization – kidnapped three American citizens and held them captive for nearly 2,000 days,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “With the sentence handed down today, Alexander Beltran Herrera is being held accountable for his role in those offenses. This case underscores our resolve to pursue and bring to justice those who target our citizens with violence anywhere in the world.”
Beltran Herrera’s extradition, prosecution, and incarceration should serve as a warning to terrorists who doubt the resolve of the U.S. to serve justice on those who harm American citizens on foreign soil, said U.S. Attorney Machen. The case was brought to justice through close cooperation with the Colombian National Police and the essential work of prosecutors, agents, and analysts.
Beltran Herrera, a former terrorist commander for the FARC, will now be held accountable for his role in holding three U.S. citizens hostage in Colombia for 1,967 days, said Kelly M. Darden, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Division. The FARC has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State in 1997 and remains so designated.
The FARC has engaged in an armed conflict to overthrow the Republic of Colombia, South America’s longest-standing democracy, since its inception in 1964. The organization 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.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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