U.S. citizens Marcel Malanga, 22, Tyler Thompson, 22, and Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 37, were all instrumental in an attempt to topple the government and assassinate the president of the Central African country in May 2024, federal prosecutors said. The failed coup resulted in their capture and a Congolese military court sentenced them to be executed.

The men recently had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment for their role in an attempted coup last May in the central African nation.