A Colombian national accused of participating in the 2023 kidnapping and assault of two U.S. soldiers was recently extradited to the United States. Kenny Julieth Uribe Chiran, 35, from Bogotá, Colombia, faced her initial court appearance in Miami, Florida after being transferred to U.S. custody, as announced by the Justice Department.
Uribe Chiran, along with her co-conspirators, is alleged to have targeted the military personnel during their temporary duty in Bogotá, where they were incapacitated and robbed of their possessions. She is facing charges of kidnapping and assaulting an internationally protected person, in addition to conspiracy to commit these crimes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The case is the result of an investigation led by the FBI, with Uribe Chiran being the last of three co-defendants to be extradited to the United States in relation to these events. Her co-defendant, Arango Castellanos, had been extradited from Colombia in May 2023, pleaded guilty in January, and received a prison sentence of 48 years and nine months. Meanwhile, the other co-defendant, Silva Ochoa, was extradited from Chile in April and awaits trial in November.
The extradition and legal processes were supported by multiple agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, that escorted Uribe Chiran from Colombia to the United States. "The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Miami Field Office, the Office of the Legal Attaché Santiago, and the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché Office in Bogotá provided significant assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Uribe Chiran," as stated in the Justice Department announcement. The collaborative effort also benefited from contributions by Colombian law enforcement, authorities.
Heading the prosecution in this case are Trial Attorneys Clayton O’Connor and Elizabeth Nielsen of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, alongside Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertila Fernandez for the Southern District of Florida. While an indictment has been put forward, the principle of presumption of innocence applies, with Uribe Chiran and the other defendants regarded as innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
