Maickel Villegas Rodríguez Profile: What the Court Found
PROFILE · CHILE
Key Facts
- —The country Chile, where Venezuelan refugee Ronald Ojeda was taken from his Santiago flat on 21 February 2024, and Costa Rica, which handed over the accused.
- —Why it matters The conviction is the first at a full trial in the Ojeda case, and it shows how an extradition promise can cap a sentence.
- —Why now A Santiago court sentenced Maickel Villegas Rodríguez on Thursday 15 October 2026, five days before a second trial opens.
- —What happened The court found him guilty on 1 October as author of kidnapping with homicide and set 20 years on 15 October.
- —The numbers He is 28 years old. The legal penalty is life imprisonment, but Chile promised Costa Rica a ceiling of 50 years.
- —What it means for you US readers see an extradition deal shaping a sentence, while Venezuelans in Chile see one verdict in a larger set of trials.
- —Still open Who ordered the killing. The court did not rule on a political motive, and prosecutors call it an open line of inquiry.
- —Power Index Chile ranks 3rd of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 63.6 points (October 2026 edition).
- —Power Index Venezuela ranks 13th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 27.0 points (October 2026 edition).
This Maickel Villegas Rodríguez profile sets out what a Santiago court found about the first man convicted at trial in the Ronald Ojeda murder case. The court sentenced him to 20 years on Thursday 15 October 2026, after finding him guilty on 1 October.
The facts below come from the court’s reasoning, the prosecutors and Chilean outlets, and nothing goes beyond them. Anyone not yet convicted in the wider case is presumed innocent, and the political motive remains unproven.
The Maickel Villegas Rodríguez Profile in Brief
Villegas is a 28-year-old Venezuelan who worked in Chile as a delivery driver, La Tercera reports. The Second Oral Criminal Court of Santiago convicted him as author of kidnapping with homicide.
Prosecutors link him to Los Piratas, a Chilean cell of the Tren de Aragua gang, La Tercera says. Prosecutor Héctor Barros stressed that his part is different from that of the leaders.
Ojeda was a Venezuelan army lieutenant and refugee, taken from his Santiago home on 21 February 2024 and found dead on 1 March. He was 32, and Chile had recognised him as a refugee in November 2023.
What the Court Established
According to La Tercera’s account of the ruling, Villegas kept watch on El Molino street, outside the Independencia building where Ojeda lived. He used a Chevrolet Sail he was still paying off, which he drove delivering goods for a logistics firm.
On the night of the abduction, the car stood double-parked with its lights off and Villegas at the wheel, La Tercera says. Villegas and a teenage passenger filmed a video as the fake police took Ojeda out, and it was later deleted.
Prosecutors suspect the video was sent to show the kidnapping had been carried out, but the recipient is unknown. That is a suspicion, not a finding of the court.
A Nissan used by the abductors broke down at kilometre 20 of the Costanera Norte motorway in Renca. Villegas was then called to pick up three of the fake police and drive them to San Bernardo, La Tercera reports.
On his way back north, a motorway gantry recorded his car. Investigators then found him at a petrol station, where he gave his tax number for loyalty points and paid by card, and days later he left the country.
Why the Sentence Is 20 Years
The court said the legal penalty for kidnapping with homicide is life imprisonment, simple or qualified, under article 141 of the Penal Code. It set 20 years only because Chile promised Costa Rica it would not impose a death sentence or more than 50 years.
Life terms are indeterminate, so the judges chose the nearest fixed term, which runs from 15 years and a day to 20 years, Monitoreamos reports. They rejected the defence request for 15 years and a day and fixed the maximum.
A mitigating factor of no prior convictions offset an aggravating factor, the court said, and it added lifetime disqualification from public office. The ruling also describes Ojeda’s death as slow and cruel, in the judges’ words.
Flight, Arrest and Extradition
Villegas was detained in Costa Rica as he tried to cross into Panama, El Dínamo and CNN Chile report. CR Hoy says investigators acted on an Interpol alert requested by Chilean prosecutors, at the Paso Canoas border post.
A Costa Rican court approved the extradition, and the country handed him to Chile’s investigative police on 19 November 2024, CR Hoy says. Chilean outlets also put his arrival in November 2024.
How the Defence and Prosecution Argued
The trial opened on 10 September 2026, and prosecutors announced 87 witnesses, 28 experts and more than 170 pieces of evidence, Pauta reported. Pauta says the prosecution charged him with cover and support tasks in the group’s transfers.
CNN Chile reports that the defence has said he did not know what was happening or that it was a kidnapping. The court nonetheless found him guilty as author of the crime.
His lawyer, Jeannette Cofré, told Chilean television that the 20-year request followed Costa Rica’s 50-year limit, CR Hoy says. She also said the defence would decide later what to do next.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the case shows how extradition promises shape sentences in gang cases, because Chile kept a pledge made to Costa Rica. The wider case also reaches the United States, which extradited a defendant in the second trial in late August, Monitoreamos reports.
For Venezuelans and visitors in Chile, this is one conviction for one defendant, not a verdict on a community. A second trial opens on Tuesday 20 October, and each defendant there is presumed innocent until a court rules.
Our report Chile Hands Villegas 20-Year Sentence covers the ruling itself. Our explainer Ronald Ojeda Murder Case Explained: Who Is on Trial maps the wider case, and Chile Court Convicts Villegas in Ronald Ojeda Murder covers the first verdict.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether Villegas will appeal, and his lawyer has not said so publicly in the sources reviewed. The Poder Judicial note on the ruling was not available to us directly, so details rest on La Tercera and Monitoreamos.
Who ordered the killing is also unknown, and the court did not rule on a political motive, Barros said. The family lawyer Juan Carlos Manríquez called it plausible, though no court has found it.
Villegas’s exact place in the gang is not established beyond the court’s findings. Prosecutors describe his role as filming and moving other participants, and they place the leaders in a different trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Maickel Villegas Rodríguez?
He is a 28-year-old Venezuelan who worked as a delivery driver in Chile. A Santiago court convicted him as author of the kidnapping with homicide of Ronald Ojeda.
What sentence did he receive?
He received 20 years on Thursday 15 October 2026. The legal penalty is life imprisonment, but Chile promised Costa Rica a ceiling of 50 years.
What did the court find he did?
Judges found he kept watch outside Ojeda’s building and later drove three of the fake police away. They did not rule on any political motive.
Was he extradited from Costa Rica?
Yes, he was detained in Costa Rica trying to enter Panama and handed to Chile on 19 November 2024. Costa Rica’s approval came with a limit on the sentence.
Is the case over?
No, a second and larger trial opens in Santiago on Tuesday 20 October 2026. La Tercera counts 18 accused there, while EFE counts 16.
Sources: La Tercera, 15 October 2026 (sentence report; court reasoning) and 1 October 2026 (Manríquez interview); Monitoreamos, 15 October 2026 (report); Efecto Cocuyo, EFE text (report); Emol, 1 October 2026 (verdict); El Dínamo (1 October); Pauta (10 September); CNN Chile (trial opening); CR Hoy (Costa Rica extradition).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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