A U.S. court has sentenced Michael Sang Correa, a 46-year-old Gambian national, to 67 years and six months in prison for his role in torturing victims during a 2006 crackdown under former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh. The landmark case marks the first U.S. prosecution of a member of the notorious “Junglers” unit.

Correa was convicted by a Colorado jury in April 2025 on one count of conspiracy to commit torture and five counts of torture, following his participation in brutal acts against suspected coup plotters in The Gambia. Evidence presented at trial showed that Correa, a member of the Junglers—a secretive paramilitary group reporting directly to Jammeh—targeted victims with beatings, burnings using molten plastic, stabbings, and electrocutions at Mile 2 Prison and the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul. The violence followed a failed coup attempt in March 2006 against Jammeh, who ruled from 1994 until his 2016 election loss.

“Today, Michael Correa has finally been held accountable for the brutal violence he inflicted on others,” - Acting Asst. A.G Matthew R. Galeotti

The prosecution utilized a U.S. law allowing charges for torture committed abroad if the perpetrator is present in the U.S. Correa, who entered the U.S. in 2016 and worked as a day laborer in Denver, was arrested in 2019 for overstaying his visa and charged in 2020.

Victims testified about severe physical and psychological harm, including one who described being burned with molten plastic and another suffocated with a plastic bag. Rights groups, including the Alliance of Victim-Led Organisations in The Gambia, hailed the verdict as a step toward global accountability.

However, former President Jammeh, now in exile in Equatorial Guinea, has denied allegations of torture during his regime. Some critics argue that prosecuting lower-ranking figures like Correa may not address the broader systemic abuses under Jammeh’s rule, while supporters of the trial emphasize its role in deterring human rights violators seeking refuge in the U.S.