(NewsNation) — The Department of Justice announced Thursday that two Colombian nationals who conspired to murder U.S. soldiers by detonating a car bomb outside a military base near the Colombia-Venezuela border have been sentenced.
Andres Fernando Medina Rodriguez, 40, a former military officer, and Ciro Alfonso Gutierrez Ballesteros, 31, received sentences of 35 and 30 years, respectively, for the June 15, 2021, attack at the Colombian 30th Army Brigade Base in Cucuta, Colombia. The two were aided in the attack by the 33rd Front, an extremist faction of the Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FARC) guerrilla group.
According to the DOJ, “Medina Rodriguez drove (a) bomb-laden SUV to the 30th Army Brigade Base, eventually parking it in front of the location where U.S. and Colombian military personnel worked. Gutierrez Ballesteros, riding a motorcycle, escorted Medina Rodriguez. Once inside, Medina Rodriguez activated the bomb’s timer device and left the area on foot before fleeing on the motorcycle driven by Gutierrez Ballesteros.”
The blast injured three U.S. Army soldiers and 44 members of the Colombian military.
Following an investigation, the two conspirators were arrested and extradited through the efforts of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Office of the Judicial Attache at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota and Colombian authorities.
“Our most urgent mission and highest priority is to hold those accountable who target Americans, (including) the brave men and women who serve as members of our uniformed services domestically and around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida.