Terrorist Gets 60 Years For Abduction Of Americans Who Remain Captive

January 28, 2008 9:23 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A member of a U.S.-designated Colombian terror group was sentenced to 60 years in prison Monday for his role in the abduction in 2003 of three American anti-narcotics agents who remain captive.

Juvenal Ovidio Ricardo Palmera Pineda, 56, received 60 years instead of a maximum life sentence because of an extradition agreement with Colombia that requires the court not to impose life imprisonment.

The American hostages were conducting aerial counter-drug surveillance in rural Colombia on Feb. 13, 2003, when their Cessna plane crashed in the state of Caqueta, according to court documents.

Heavily armed Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) guerrillas surrounded the plane and executed American pilot Thomas Janis and Colombian national Luis Alcides Cruz. Three other passengers - Americans Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes - are still being held hostage.

FARC has identified Palmera as a FARC spokesperson and representative for negotiations over demands to free political prisoners in exchange for the Americans.

Palmera was arrested eight months later in Quito, Ecuador, and was deported to Colombia. He was extradited to the United States in December 2004 to face charges.