DENVER — Darwin Veliz-Gonzalez, Jefferson Balza-Delfin, and Yender Enrique Campos-Malave were each sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for kidnapping and torturing a man in Denver. United States Senior District Judge John L. Kane presided over the sentencings on October 5, 2026.

The defendants are nationals of Venezuela who were convicted of kidnapping and torturing a man in Denver. The Violent Crimes Section of the United States Attorney’s Office handled the prosecution while the FBI Denver Field Office and the Denver Police Department handled the investigation.

The defendants tied the victim with rope and held him without food and with very little water for several days. They threatened the victim with a firearm and pistol whipped him.

The defendants repeatedly held the victim's head in a bucket of water for thirty seconds or more. They filmed themselves strangling the victim with a rope until he nearly lost consciousness.

Jefferson Balza-Delfin used pliers to cut off the victim's right pinky finger. The act of cutting off the victim's finger was filmed.

A Tren de Aragua leader suggested the defendants cut off one of the victim's fingers to motivate the family to pay the ransom. The defendants consulted with Tren de Aragua leadership about the kidnapping.

The defendants sent videos of the torture to the victim’s wife and to international leadership of the Tren de Aragua gang. The videos were used to demand a ransom from the victim’s wife and family in Venezuela.

"This is what Tren de Aragua was doing in our community," said United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Peter McNeilly. "Colorado is safer with these violent criminals in federal prison for the next 20 years, and we will continue to pursue every member of Tren de Aragua until there are no more left in our state."

"The FBI, alongside our local, state, federal, and international partners, is working to disrupt and dismantle TdA through intelligence-driven investigations like this from our Violent Criminal Enterprise Task Force," said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. "The FBI remains committed to investigating members of violent transnational gangs whose actions violate the laws of the United States and put innocent American lives at risk."

"The Denver Police Department holds offenders accountable regardless of their immigration status and the arrest of these individuals demonstrates just that," said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. "I applaud the victim of this heinous crime, and all victims – regardless of immigration status – for reporting criminal behaviors and helping us arrest those who prey on our community members."

Timeline

On October 16, 2024, the Denver Police Department received a welfare call reporting a kidnapping at 535 South Hazel Court in Denver. Denver Police officers conducted a limited visual search of the residence and did not find a person in distress. The victim was in the house during the police welfare check but was afraid to make himself known. Three of the defendants fled the residence after the police visited.

In October 2024, the victim showed officers that his right pinky finger had been severed. The victim walked into a Denver Police Station the morning after the welfare check to report kidnapping and assault. The victim escaped the residence and made his way to the police station.

Why It Matters

Tren de Aragua is a transnational organized crime syndicate from Venezuela that was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government. The group was led by Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias "Niño Guerrero", until his death in June 2026. Tocorón prison was taken over by Venezuelan security forces during a raid, and the leadership escaped.

In 2024, Tren de Aragua was involved in an armed invasion of an apartment unit in Aurora, where a man and a woman were kidnapped, tied up, and tortured by 12 suspects. In the Aurora case, all the suspects were Venezuelan nationals who were in the country illegally, according to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson. A federal grand jury in the District of Colorado indicted Brawins Dominique Suarez Villegas for his role in the October 2024 kidnapping and torture.

Brawins Dominique Villegas is charged with RICO conspiracy alleging activity for Tren de Aragua from May 2024 through on or about March 2025. The RICO conspiracy charges against Villegas allege a pattern of racketeering activity including robbery, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, and controlled substance offenses. The RICO conspiracy case against Brawins Dominique Villegas, a Tren de Aragua leader, is assigned the case number 25-cr-331-PAB in the District of Colorado.

Brawins Dominique Villegas, a Tren de Aragua leader, is currently in custody in Colombia and awaiting extradition to the United States. Brawins Dominique Villegas is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.