Venezuela's Justice sentenced 24 people involved in two failed maritime attacks against the Government of President Nicolás Maduro to 15 years in prison, including the one considered leader of the operation, Antonio Sequea, the country's attorney general, Tarek, reported on Friday Saab.
The convicted men, all arrested in early May after the attacks failed, will be in prison after admitting to "the crimes of terrorism, rebellion, and conspiracy," Saab said in a televised statement broadcast on the state-run VTV channel.
These people were identified as Antonio José Sequea Torres (leader of the group, linked to the attempted coup of April 30), Cosme Rafael Alcalá, Fernando Andrés Noya, Estewin Andrés Rojas, Luis Manuelo Paiva, Ederson Robertto Rumi, Rosmel Edecio Méndez , Gustavo Adolfo Hernández, Rodolfo Jesús Rodríguez, Enderson Israel Ríos, José Armando Alvarado, Gilbert Orlando Barillas, Roberto Andrés Rondón, Jefferson Fernando Díaz and Carlos Enrique Conde.
He explained that the 17 involved in the mercenary attack carried out on May 3 in La Guaira, called Operation Gedeón, admitted their responsibility in the events, during the hearings held on August 7 and 12.
It should be remembered that this operation was intended to assassinate senior government officials, including the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, and install a "transition" government with the support of the United States.
For this reason, "a total of 82 people have been arrested in different operations, including mercenaries, military deserters, and one active duty soldier, as well as civilians involved in the operation as financiers and logistical support," he noted.
He added that the State security forces have carried out 25 raids: 2 in the Capital District, 18 in Miranda, 3 in Anzoátegui and 2 in Zulia.
"In total, 104 arrest warrants have been requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office, of which 53 are pending execution," he reported.
In this regard, the first preliminary hearing was held on August 7th before the 4th Control Court with Competence in Crimes Associated with Terrorism with National Jurisdiction, during which citizens Airan Seth Berry and Luke Alexander Denman, of American nationality, "decided freely and without coercion to avail themselves of one of the alternative methods of pursuing the process, which is the admission of the facts," it indicated.
Therefore, they were convicted by the aforementioned court for the crimes of conspiracy, association, illicit trafficking in weapons of war, and terrorism, for which they face a sentence of 20 years, 7 months, and 9 days in prison, "a sentence that was applied by virtue of the reduction of one-third of the sentence for admitting the facts, plus half for having invoked the option of informing others," he explained.
