Venezuela judge convicts six American oil execs
CARACAS, Venezuela — Six American oil executives held for three years in Venezuela were found guilty of corruption charges by a judge Thursday and immediately sentenced to prison, defense lawyers said, dashing hopes of a quick release that would send them home to their families in the United States.
Some relatives had been bracing for the disheartening outcome, which came on the evening of Thanksgiving Day. Defense attorney Jesus Loreto called the trial’s result “bad news” and said the verdict was based on little or no proof presented by government prosecutors.
“They don’t have any evidence to hold these guys accountable for any wrongdoing,” Loreto said. “They ought to be released.”
Attorney María Alejandra Poleo, who helped represent three of the men, said: “Of course, the defense will appeal the decision to the court.”
The so-called Citgo 6 are employees of Houston-based Citgo refining company, which is owned by Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA. They had been lured to Venezuela three years ago for a business meeting and were arrested on corruption charges.
Their arrest launched a purge by President Nicolás Maduro’s government of PDVSA and at a time when relations between Caracas and Washington were crumbling.
Five of the men were sentenced to prison terms of 8 years and 10 months, while one of them received a 13-year sentence.
Loreto said the five men with lesser terms could be released on parole in a couple of years.
Relatives did not immediately comment, nor did Venezuelan officials.
One of the men, Tomeu Vadel, has said in a letter written in a Caracas jail and provided exclusively to The Associated Press that he had hopes for a fair trial so he could walk free with his name cleared and go home to his family in the United States.
Vadell said in the letter that it was especially painful to be separated during the Thanksgiving season from his wife, three adult children and a newborn grandson he has never held.
“Before living this tragedy, these celebrations were very special times for our family,” Vadell wrote, saying he embraced the traditional American holiday after moving in 1999 from Caracas to Lake Charles, Louisiana, for a job with Citgo. “Now, they bring me a lot of sadness.”
It’s the first time Vadell, or any of the so-called Citgo 6, had spoken publicly since being arrested and charged with in a purported big corruption scheme. He has been held at a feared Caracas jail called El Helicoide.
Despite his circumstances, Vadell had held out hope.
“During the trial, the truth has proven undeniable,” Vadell said in the four-page hand-written letter. “It proves that I am innocent.”
Vadell, 61, and the five other Citgo executives were summoned to the headquarters of PDVSA for what they were told was a budget meeting on Nov. 21, 2017. A corporate jet shuttled them to Caracas and they were told they would be home for Thanksgiving.
Instead, a cadre of military intelligence officers swarmed into the boardroom and hauled them off to jail.
Their trial started four months ago and closing arguments took place Thursday. The judge immediately announced her verdict.
The men accused along with Vadell are Gustavo Cárdenas, Jorge Toledo, brothers Jose Luis Zambrano and Alirio Zambrano, all now US citizens. Jose Pereira, a permanent resident, received the longest sentence.
They were also charged with embezzlement stemming from a never-executed proposal to refinance some $4 billion in Citgo bonds by offering a 50% stake in the company as collateral. Maduro at the time accused them of “treason.”
They all pleaded innocence. The trial played out one day a week in a downtown Caracas court. Due to the pandemic, sessions were held in front of a bank of dormant elevators in a hallway, apparently to take advantage of air flowing through open windows.
News media and rights groups were denied access to the hearings. There was no response to a letter addressed to Judge Lorena Cornielles seeking permission for The Associated Press to observe.
The office of Venezuela’s chief prosecutor said prior to the verdict in a statement to AP that investigators found “serious evidence” that corroborated financial crimes potentially damaging to the state-run company.
“The Citgo case has developed normally during all the stages established by the Venezuelan criminal process,” the statement said.
Loreto said his client appeared to have been caught up in a “geopolitical conflict” of which he was not a part. He said Vadell’s name never appeared on any of the documents prosecutors read into evidence.