Columbian national pleads guilty in plot against U.S. soldiers

A Columbian man pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of conspiracy to kidnap and assault U.S. Army soldiers stationed in Columbia, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Prosecutors said the defendant, identified as Pedro Jose Silva Ochoa, 47, of Bogotá, "targeted, incapacitated, and kidnapped two U.S. soldiers in Bogotá."

The soldiers, who were serving in Columbia, had attended a soccer game in the entertainment district of Bogotá on March 5, 2020. While at a pub, both were incapacitated by one of Silva Ochoa's co-conspirators using drugs that included benzodiazepines in the victims' drinks and taken to a car waiting outside and driven by Silva Ochoa.

After kidnapping the victims, Ochoa and his co-conspirators took their wallets, debit cards, credit cards, and cell phones and then used them to buy stuff and to withdraw money.

Silva Ochoa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person.

Silva Ochoa was the second co-defendant to plead guilty to the crime and was previously extradited from Chile to the United States in May.

Co-defendant Arango Castellanos was extradited in May 2023 from Colombia to the U.S. and pleaded guilty in January when he was sentenced to 48 years and nine months in prison.

Co-defendant Uribe Chiran was extradited in September from Colombia to the U.S. and is currently scheduled for trial in February 2025.