A recent prisoner swap between the United States and Venezuela is generating controversy after it was revealed that one of the men brought back to the U.S. had reportedly been convicted of killing three people.
According to The New York Times, Dahud Hanid Ortiz — a dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizen — was convicted in Venezuela for the 2016 murders of three individuals in Spain.
The report says the victims were killed in an office building that was then set on fire. After the attack, Ortiz reportedly fled to Venezuela, where he was later arrested. Spain reportedly requested his extradition, but Venezuela does not allow the extradition of its own citizens.
Ortiz was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
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In a list obtained by Scripps News detailing the Americans returned in the swap, Ortiz was not described as a hostage or as being wrongfully detained. He was simply listed as a person held in a Venezuelan prison.
A source familiar with the circumstances surrounding Ortiz’s imprisonment told Scripps News that his status appeared ambiguous to those responsible for determining whether he met the criteria for wrongful detention.
Scripps News also spoke with Osman Khan, another American who was wrongfully detained in the same Venezuelan prison.
In a phone interview with Scripps News national security correspondent Liz Landers, Khan said he did not believe Ortiz was a murderer. He added that Ortiz protected him while they were incarcerated together. Ortiz declined to comment for this story.
In a statement to Scripps News, a State Department spokesperson defended the swap — a deal agreed to by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“The United States had the opportunity to secure the release of all Americans detained in Venezuela, many of whom reported being subjected to torture and other harsh conditions," the spokesperson said. "For privacy reasons, I won’t get into the details of any specific case."
