A Denver man was allegedly held captive and tortured by his roommates after they discovered that he and his father had ties to law enforcement in Venezuela, federal prosecutors said Monday. The men then carried out a ransom scheme allegedly directed by leaders of the violent Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.
The victim endured days of abuse before escaping and walking into a Denver police station with one of his fingers severed, prosecutors said.
His captors recorded portions of the torture and sent the footage to his wife while demanding that his family in Venezuela pay a ransom.
Darwin Veliz-Gonzalez, Jefferson Balza-Delfin and Yender Enrique Campos-Malave — all Venezuelan nationals — were each sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for kidnapping and torture, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced.
Sentencing for a fourth defendant was postponed.
“This is what Tren de Aragua was doing in our community,” US Attorney Peter McNeilly said. “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 victim had been renting a room in the Denver house when his roommates learned that he and his father were police officers in Venezuela and allegedly decided to hold him for ransom, prosecutors said.
The men bound him with rope and kept him captive for several days without food and with only a small amount of water.
During the ordeal, they filmed themselves choking him with a rope until he was close to losing consciousness. They also repeatedly forced his head into a bucket of water for at least 30 seconds at a time, threatened him with a gun and struck him with a pistol.
Prosecutors said the men sent the recordings to the victim’s wife to pressure his relatives in Venezuela to pay a ransom. They also shared the videos with international Tren de Aragua leaders and consulted them about the kidnapping.
When the family failed to send money, one gang leader allegedly proposed cutting off one of the victim’s fingers to intensify the pressure.
The victim overheard his captors discussing the plan. Balza-Delfin then used pliers to sever the man’s right pinky finger, an attack the defendants also recorded, prosecutors said.
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Denver police went to the home on South Hazel Court on Oct. 16, 2024, after receiving a welfare call reporting that someone had been kidnapped there.
Officers conducted a limited visual search but did not find anyone in apparent distress. The victim was still inside, prosecutors said, but was too frightened to reveal himself.
After police left, three of the men fled the house, giving the victim a chance to escape.
The following morning, he walked into a Denver police station, reported the kidnapping and assault, and showed officers that his finger was missing.
Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas commended the victim for coming forward.
“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,” Thomas said.
A federal grand jury has separately indicted Brawins Dominique Suarez Villegas, who is also known as “Chino San Vicente,” over his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and torture.
He is also accused of participating in a broader TdA criminal operation involving robbery, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering and drug crimes between May 2024 and approximately March 2025.
The FBI’s Denver Field Office and Denver police investigated the case, which FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski cited as part of the bureau’s efforts to dismantle the gang.
“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,” Koldjeski said.
