Former Green Berets Luke Denman and Airan Berry were sentenced on Friday
Tarek Saab, Venezuela's attorney general, announced the 20 year sentence
Saab said the two Americans had admitted their role in the failed May coup
The pair were arrested on May 4 and charged with terrorism and conspiracy
'The men ADMITTED having committed crimes of conspiracy, illegal association, trafficking of weapons of war and terrorism as defined by the Penal Code: for this they have been sentenced to 20 years, months and nine days in prison.'
Saab appeared to have omitted the number of months to which they were sentenced.
'The hearing continues with the remaining accused,' he concluded.
The former governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, flew to Venezuela last month to urge Maduro to free several jailed Americans as a goodwill gesture aimed at easing tensions with the U.S.
The Richardson Center, which seeks freedom for Americans held by hostile foreign governments and criminal organizations, would not confirm who he was lobbying for.
Denman and Berry were likely on the list, along with six oil executives from Citgo — five Venezuelan-Americans and one a permanent U.S. resident — who were lured to Caracas for a meeting in late 2017 at the offices of the Houston-based company’s parent, state-run oil giant PDVSA, when masked security agents swarmed a boardroom and hauled them away.
Richardson also worked behind the scenes to bring home another American jailed in Caracas, former Mormon missionary Joshua Holt, who won his freedom in 2018