Latter-day Saint Life

Venezuelan Judge Orders Returned Missionary to Be Tried on Weapons Charges, Recording of Josh Holt Begging for Medical Help Released

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Returned missionary Josh Holt has been barred from the hospital despite increasing medical concerns. Recently, a recording of Holt was released where you can hear him saying, "I don't know what to do. I've never felt like this before."

A judge in Venezuela has ordered a Utah man to stand trial on weapons charges, a move that "devastated" his mother and dashed hopes that he would be released and home for Christmas.

Tuesday's ruling in a preliminary hearing came almost 18 months after Joshua Holt of Riverton was arrested and a day after his mother issued a plea that her ailing son be allowed to get treatment at a hospital.

Holt, 25, was jailed in June 2016 after he traveled to the South American nation to marry a woman he met through online Spanish lessons. He sought to secure visas for his wife and her children. He was arrested at her family's apartment by police who alleged he was stockpiling weapons. Holt's wife, Theresa Calena, also was arrested and was being held separately in Caracas.

Lead image from Deseret News
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