Chilean court sentences first accused in kidnapping and murder of Ronald Ojeda to 20 years
A Santiago tribunal sentenced Maickel Villegas to 20 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda. The case involves 32 people and implicates the Tren de Aragua.
Chilean court sentences first convicted in Ronald Ojeda murder to 20 years
The 2nd Criminal Oral Court of Santiago condemned Maickel David Villegas Rodríguez to 20 years in prison for the kidnapping and murder of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda, according to eldiario.com. The accused was found guilty as the perpetrator of both crimes in the framework of the first oral trial held in this case.
Álex Cortez, chief prosecutor of the Criminal Analysis and High Complexity System of the Southern Metropolitan Public Prosecutor's Office, told the local press that the sentence imposed matches what was requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office, in light of the commitments acquired by Chile with Costa Rica to finalise Villegas's extradition in 2024.
Alejandra Valdivieso, the prosecution lawyer representing Ojeda's family, estimated that the sentence could have been higher. Nevertheless, she highlighted that during the trial Villegas's strategic participation in the events was substantiated: the accused was responsible for gathering audiovisual material to document the execution of the kidnapping and murder of the former Venezuelan lieutenant.
Villegas was linked to the criminal organisation Los Piratas, identified as an alleged cell of the Tren de Aragua in Chile. He had been extradited from Costa Rica in November 2024.
The kidnapping facts
Ronald Ojeda, aged 32, was kidnapped in the early morning of 21 February in the Independencia district of Santiago. Individuals posing as agents of the Investigative Police (PDI) removed him from the home where he was sleeping with his family.
On 1 March, Chilean authorities confirmed the discovery of his body, buried in a cement pit at a camp in the Maipú district. From that point onwards investigations were opened to determine the motive for the crime and the identity of all those responsible.
Ojeda had fled Venezuela in 2017 after being accused of conspiracy against Nicolás Maduro's government. Chile granted him political refugee status in late 2023.
Political dimension and pending mass trial
The Chilean Public Prosecutor's Office has pointed to alleged payments from the political leadership of the Venezuelan government to leaders of the transnational criminal organisation. "This oral trial pertains only to one defendant; there are aspects that remain open, including the political motive," prosecutor Cortez told the local press.
The case already had previous convictions for three other implicated individuals, resolved through abbreviated procedure. In total, 32 people have been identified as linked to the crime. Sixteen of them, already prosecuted in Chile, will face a mass oral trial beginning on 20 October.
Among those charged in that proceeding are Rafael Gámez Salas, alias El Turko, identified as the gang's leader in Chile and extradited from the United States in late August 2026, and Luis Alfredo Carrillo Ortiz, alias El Gocho, extradited from Colombia.
Six detention warrants remain in force. One of them corresponds to Héctor Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, supreme leader of the Tren de Aragua, who was murdered in Venezuela in June this year during an international operation in which the government of Delcy Rodríguez and the Donald Trump administration participated.
Source: Google News VE — Crime