Colombian citizens sentenced to prison for plot to murder American soldiers

Two Colombian citizens will serve long prison sentences for conspiring and attempting to murder U.S. soldiers by detonating a car bomb outside a military base near the Colombian-Venezuelan border, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Colombian citizens Andrés Fernando Medina Rodriguez, 40, and Ciro Alfonso Gutiérrez Ballesteros, 31, were sentenced to 35 and 30 years in prison respectively for their involvement in the attempted attack in 2021.

According to court documents, Rodriguez and Ballesteros, as well as members of the 33rd Front, an extremist faction of Las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FARC), targeted U.S. troops stationed at the Colombian Army's 30th Brigade base in Cúcuta, Colombia.

According to officials, Rodriguez, a co-conspirator, used his status as a medically discharged Colombian army officer to gain access to the base and from there monitored the areas where the U.S. soldiers primarily stayed, using photos and videos.

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About ten days before the attack, Rodriguez and Ballesteros handed over a white SUV to their co-conspirators on the 33rd Front, which they loaded with an improvised explosive device, authorities said.

On June 15, 2021, authorities said, Rodriguez drove the SUV carrying the bomb to the 30th Army Brigade base and eventually parked it in front of the site where U.S. and Colombian military personnel were working.

Ballesteros accompanied Rodriguez on the motorcycle, and once inside, Rodriguez activated the bomb's timer, left the area on foot, and then fled with Ballesteros.

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According to court documents, Rodriguez and Ballesteros, as well as members of the 33rd Front, attacked American troops stationed at the Colombian Army's 30th Brigade base in Cúcuta, Colombia. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“Our most urgent task and highest priority is to hold accountable those who target Americans. That includes the brave men and women who serve as members of our uniformed services at home and around the world,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida.

“As the prison sentences imposed today on defendants Medina Rodriguez and Gutiérrez Ballesteros demonstrate, individuals who threaten the security of the United States and our fellow Americans will face the full force of our nation's criminal justice system.”

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Three US Army soldiers and 44 Colombian military personnel were injured in the explosion.

“Crime does not stop at our borders, and neither does the FBI's commitment to investigate crimes against our military abroad,” Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI's Miami field office said in a statement.

“We work closely with our international partners and security services around the globe to conduct complex investigations and obtain evidence from abroad for prosecutions in the United States.”

The U.S. Army did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.