Three members of a Colombian terrorist group have been convicted by a U.S. court in connection with the April 2008 kidnapping of a U.S. citizen in Panama City, Panama.

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff found the defendants guilty of hostage-taking and hostage-taking conspiracy Monday after a trial in New York.

The three defendants are members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – an organization dedicated to overthrowing the Colombian government. The group – known as FARC – is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara says the unidentified American was held hostage in order to finance the group's terrorist activities. The three defendants helped guard the victim at a jungle camp for ten months before receiving ransom from the victim's relatives in the United States.

Authorities arrested the defendants in Colombia in 2009. They will receive sentences in October. The U.S. justice department says it has assured Colombia the men will not be sentenced to life in prison.