Peruvian pleads guilty to lying (re: massacre of villagers)

Source: Sun-Sentinel/Associated Press

Peruvian pleads guilty to lying

The Associated Press
Posted May 25 2007

MIAMI · A former Peruvian soldier convicted there in a 1985 massacre of suspected guerrillas pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to U.S. officials to obtain a visa.

Telmo Ricardo Hurtado, 45, of Bellavista in the Callao province of Peru, pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors to the full indictment -- one count of making a false statement to a federal agency and one count of fraud and misuse of a visa. The charges carry a maximum of 15 years in federal prison. Hurtado will be sentenced June 25.
(snip)

According to court documents, he commanded a platoon of soldiers that entered the rural village of Accomarca in August 1985, looking for members of the Shining Path guerrilla movement.

Almost 70 villagers, including children, pregnant women and elderly people, were murdered by Hurtado and his soldiers, the victims' bodies burned to leave no evidence, the documents said.




Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cmassacre25may25,0,5953807.story?coll=sfla-news-broward

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From an earlier article:

~snip~
As part of the same investigation, federal agents also recently arrested Telmo Ricardo Hurtado-Hurtado in Miami on visa fraud charges. The ex-Peruvian army platoon commander led the military unit that gunned down dozens of civilians, according to Peruvian military court documents.
(snip)

According to a criminal complaint in the Florida case, Hurtado-Hurtado falsely stated in his U.S. visa application that he had never been arrested or convicted of a crime.

In an affidavit, federal authorities cite Peruvian documents that allege Hurtado-Hurtado commanded a platoon of soldiers that entered the Peruvian village of Accomarca in search of members of the Shining Path guerrilla movement. The officer and his troops gathered the villagers, raped the women and, at Hurtado-Hurtado's command, murdered 69 residents of the village, including children and pregnant women, the documents say.
(snip)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/caribbean/bal-te.md.deport05apr05,0,6441205.story