DENVER — A man accused of torturing prisoners for a former Gambian dictator was found guilty on seven counts Tuesday in an unprecedented trial in Denver District Court sought under a rarely used law that allows people to be prosecuted in the U.S. judicial system for torture allegedly committed abroad.

Michael Sang Correa, of The Gambia in West Africa, was indicted in 2020 and was charged torturing six people and being part of a conspiracy to torture alleged coup plotters while serving with the Junglers, a military unit that reported directly to former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh in 2006.

Federal officials are holding a news conference after the verdict was reached in the case against Correa. Watch it live in the video player below.

Prosecutors said Correa came to the U.S. to serve as a bodyguard for former President Jammeh in December 2016 and overstayed his visa after Jammeh was ousted in 2017. Since sometime after arriving, Correa had been living in Denver and working as a day laborer, they said.

Crime

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said in a news release at the time of Correa’s indictment that the Junglers were composed of individuals selected from the ranks of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) but operated outside the regular GAF chain of command. After learning individuals within The Gambia were attempting to overthrow his government, Jammeh arrested them and "subjected to severe physical and mental abuses," according to the indictment.