WASHINGTON, March 18 (UPI) -- A commander of the FARC guerrilla organization in Colombia pleaded guilty Tuesday in a U.S. court to taking U.S. citizens hostage in 2003.
Alexander Beltran Herrera, 37, pleaded guilty to three counts of hostage taking, John P. Carlin, the acting attorney general for national security, said. Under an extradition agreement with Colombia, he faces a maximum of 60 years in prison when he is sentenced July 25.
The Justice Department said Beltran Herrera was involved in holding three U.S. citizens, Marc D. Gonsalves, Thomas R. Howes, and Keith Stansell, for two years after their small plane crash landed in the jungle in Colombia. Two others, Thomas Janis, a U.S. citizen, and Sgt. Luis Alcides Cruz, a Colombian citizen, were killed at the crash site.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- People's Army, more usually known by its Spanish acronym FARC -- has been fighting the Colombian government since 1964. The group has said it regards U.S. citizens as military targets.
