A pair of Colombian car bombers who attempted to kill soldiers at a military base near the Colombia-Venezuela border will spend the next several decades in prison.
Colombian nationals Andres Fernando Medina Rodriguez, 40, and Ciro Alfonso Gutierrez Ballesteros, 31, were sentenced to 35 and 30 years in prison, respectively, Florida prosecutors announced Thursday.
The men – documented members of the extremist faction of Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias – were convicted of conspiring and attempting to murder U.S. soldiers in a June 2021 targeted attack at the Colombian 30th Army Brigade Base in Cúcuta, Colombia by detonating a car bomb.
Prosecutors said Medina Rodriguez used his prior service as a Colombian army officer to gain access to the base "where he conducted photographic and video surveillance of the areas where the U.S. soldiers were located."
On the day of the attack, the men loaded a white SUV with explosives, parked it in front of the base, and detonated it as they fled.
Three U.S. soldiers and 44 Columbia military personnel were injured in the blast.
"Our most urgent mission and highest priority is to hold those accountable who target Americans, to include the brave men and women who serve as members of our uniformed services domestically and around the world," U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement. "As seen by the prison sentences imposed upon defendants Medina Rodriguez and Gutierrez Ballesteros today, individuals who threaten the safety and security of the United States and our fellow Americans will face the full force of our nation's criminal justice system."
