Also, the Superior Court of Yopal ratified in the second instance a fine of 9,366.66 Current Minimum Wages against Jon Edilson Roa Patarroyo and Víctor Manuel Camacho Flórez.
The evidence collected by the Office of the Attorney General allowed the Superior Court of Yopal to ratify in the second instance the sentence of 40 years in prison against Jon Edilson Roa Patarroyo and Víctor Manuel Camacho Flórez for conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping for extortion purposes and illegal possession of weapons (these last two were aggravated).
The investigation carried out by a prosecutor from the Specialized Directorate against Criminal Organizations showed that, between 8:45 and 9:30 in the morning of April 25, 2020, at La Macolla farm in the municipality of Orocué (Casanare), Jaime Rueda Guarín was kidnapped for extortion purposes by Roa Patarroyo and Camacho Florez, along with two other people.
The defendants entered the farm hiding their faces with hoods and with firearms to threaten the residents and workers of the property and take Rueda Guarín away.
The suspects had plans to offer the kidnapped man to organized armed groups which commit crimes in the department of Arauca, on the border with Venezuela, such as FARC dissidents or the so-called Bloque Oriental of ELN. But the victim was never handed over and has been missing since his kidnapping.
On March 5, the Second Criminal Court of the Specialized Circuit of Yopal sentenced the defendants to 480 months in prison and imposed them a fine of 9,366.66 Current Minimum Wages each; a decision that was appealed by the defense attorneys.
The Office of the Attorney General makes this information public for reasons of general interest.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.