Three Venezuelans Get 20-Year Terms for Denver TdA Kidnapping and Torture

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 7

Darwin Veliz-Gonzalez, Jefferson Balza-Delfin and Yender Enrique Campos-Malave were each sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for kidnapping and torturing their Denver roommate in a Tren de Aragua ransom plot.
Prosecutors said the men targeted the victim after learning he and his father were police officers in Venezuela, then held him for days, strangled and waterboarded him, and severed his right pinky finger with pliers.
Videos of the abuse were sent to the victim’s wife to demand money from relatives in Venezuela, and the captors also shared them with TdA leaders, who prosecutors said directed the pressure campaign.
Denver police visited the home on Oct. 16, 2024 after a welfare call but found no one in distress; the victim escaped the next morning and reported the crime at a police station.
A fourth defendant’s sentencing was postponed, and Brawins Dominique Suarez Villegas has been separately indicted as investigators link the case to a broader TdA operation spanning robbery, extortion, kidnapping and drug crimes.