Retired Venezuelan general who defied Maduro gets over 21 years in US prison

NEW YORK (AP) — A retired three-star Venezuelan army general who twice tried to mount coups against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been sentenced to over 21 years in prison after he admitted providing weapons to drug-funded rebels. Cliver Alcalá was sentenced Monday by federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan. Alcalá pleaded guilty last year to providing material support to a terrorist group and providing weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC — considered by the United States to be a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors had sought a 30-year prison sentence, citing his acceptance of bribes. His lawyers had requested a six-year term.