A Colombian national was sentenced today in the Southern District of Florida for her role in kidnapping and assaulting two members of the U.S. military who were on temporary duty in Bogotá, Colombia.
Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran, 35, was sentenced to 262 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $24,115 in restitution. She is the third and final defendant to be sentenced and held accountable for this criminal conspiracy.
She pleaded guilty in March 2025 to conspiracy to kidnap an internationally protected person.
“Uribe Chiran and her co-defendants mercilessly preyed on U.S. soldiers when they drugged their drinks, stole their valuables, and left them incapacitated on the street,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
According to court documents, the two U.S. soldiers went to an entertainment district in Bogotá to watch a soccer game on the evening of March 5, 2020.
They later went to a pub, where Uribe Chiran and one of her co-defendants approached the soldiers and, without their knowledge, put drugs in their drinks that rendered them incapacitated.
Medical examinations later confirmed the presence of benzodiazepines in the two soldiers’ systems. The defendants then kidnapped the soldiers, took their valuables, including their credit and debit card information, and left them incapacitated on the street in separate locations.
The defendants used one victim’s credit card and the other victim’s debit card to make purchases and withdraw money.
Uribe Chiran was extradited in September 2024 from Colombia to the United States.
Co-defendant Pedro Jose Silva Ochoa was extradited in April 2024 from Chile to the United States, pleaded guilty in December 2024, and was sentenced in March 2025 to 27 years and three months in prison.
Co-defendant Jeffersson Arango Castellanos was extradited in May 2023 from Colombia to the United States, pleaded guilty in January 2024, and was sentenced in May 2024 to 48 years and nine months in prison.
