Venezuela sends two former American soldiers to 20 years in prison over failed coup

Caracas, A Venezuelan court on Sunday sentenced two former American soldiers to 20 years in jail for conspiring to overthrow President Nicol?s Maduro.The two Americans Luke Denman and Airan Berry were found guilty of conspiracy, illicit trafficking of weapons and terrorism by the court, a BBC report said.The pair were among the 13 people arrested by Venezuelan authorities in May this year as they entered Venezuela by sea from Colombia.In a tweet, Mr Saab shared images of vehicles, weapons and identity documents, and said the American “mercenaries” had “admitted their responsibility for the facts”.Denman, 34, and Berry, 41, are former special forces soldiers who appeared in video shown on Venezuelan state TV earlier this year, where, Denman appears to confess to his involvement in “Operation Gideon” – a plot to either kill President Maduro or kidnap him and take him to the United States.He goes on to explain that he was hired to train Venezuelans opposed to the Maduro regime in Colombia before returning to Caracas and taking control of an airport and then to take Mr Maduro out of the country.Denman said he and Berry were contracted by a Florida-based security company, Silvercorp USA, to carry out the operation.Silvercorp is headed by Jordan Goudreau, an American military veteran who has openly admitted involvement in the operation.However, US President Donald Trump, long an opponent of socialist President Maduro, denied the Venezuelan accusations that he was behind the incident.The US backs opposition leader Juan Guaid? and recognises him as the country’s legitimate leader.