The Sala 2 of the Carabobo State Court of Appeals has ratified the 30-year prison sentences for former GNB captain Juan Carlos Caguaripano Scott and 15 others involved in the 2017 assault on the 41st Armored Brigade at Fuerte Paramacay.
The ruling confirms the maximum penalty for the participants of the military uprising known as “Operación David,” which took place on August 6, 2017, in Valencia.
The court has scheduled a formal sentencing hearing for Tuesday, November 17, at 10:00 a.m., summoning the defense attorneys to appear.
While the defense team has not yet been permitted to review the case files to confirm the specific terms of the decision, attorney Juan Luis González Taguaruco stated, “Nosotros suponemos que se ha dictado una sentencia condenatoria. No hemos podido revisar el expediente y, por consiguiente, saber si en efecto la sentencia fue confirmada. No tenemos razones para dudar que fue así”.
The appellate decision was issued by a panel consisting of judges Carlos Alberto Bonilla Álvarez, Willi León, and Deisy Orasma. The case, which involves 23 individuals, was originally heard in military courts before transitioning to ordinary jurisdiction. On December 19, 2025, judge Luis Francisco Ovalles Landaeta issued the initial 30-year sentences for all defendants without individualizing their specific actions.
Following an administrative transfer of the file from Sala 1 to Sala 2, the appellate hearing was repeated on October 28, 2026. During the process, the court also assigned 15-year terms to Jesús Enrique Jordán Arias and Omar Escalante—who remains under house arrest for health reasons—and 14-year terms to Rafael Yoxsan González Castellano and Juan José Castillo.
Regarding the legal hurdles faced during the appeal, Luis Armando Betancourt, coordinator of the Foro Penal in Carabobo, stated: “Esta decisión requiere que se traten puntos de mero derecho, que se evalúen bien las circunstancias que denunciamos, desde la tortura hasta los tratos crueles, inhumanos y degradantes, como también los efectos de las formas y principios procesales”.
The assault involved a group of 28 men who bypassed security at the 41st Armored Brigade, seizing 89 AK-103 rifles, 175 magazines, five 40mm multiple grenade launchers, 140 grenades, 41 bayonets, and eight pistols. Hours after the event, General Jesús Suárez Chourio appeared with military personnel to broadcast a message of normalcy.
Caguaripano, the leader of the incursion, was held in various facilities including La Tumba, El Helicoide, and Rodeo I. Other detainees were rotated through the Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar (Dgcim) and the prisons of Rodeo II or Rodeo III before arriving at the Centro Penitenciario Nacional de Valencia, known as Tocuyito.
The original case included individuals such as Juan Ubencio Machado, an agriculturist detained by the Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional (Sebin) on August 27, 2017. As they had already served nine years, they were ordered released for time served.
Other defendants, including Dixon Javier Jiménez, Oswaldo José Gutiérrez Guevara, and Luis Eduardo Mariño Carmona, remain under the 30-year sentence. “Todavía tenemos tareas que hacer allí”.
