Wrongfully detained Florida man freed in prisoner swap between U.S. and Venezuela
ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man who was wrongfully detained has been released as part of a prisoner swap between the United States and Venezuela, according to NBC Affiliate WESH.
Joseph Cristella was one of six U.S. citizens who arrived in Texas Wednesday. Cristella was one of 10 Americans who were released in exchange for a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
According to WESH, Cristella lived in Orlando before he took a job in the Dominican Republic. His cousin, Stephanie Cristella, told WESH he’d been held in Venezuela since September 2022.
Although Cristella is finally back in the U.S., his cousin said he’s still waiting to see his family.
“When I got the news, I cried. I called my family right away and I had reached out to my Aunt Elaine, and she’s been in contact with him. We’re just so excited. I really can’t wait to see him,” Stephanie told WESH.
Cristella’s family explained that while he was working as a contractor in the Dominican Republic, he’d gotten engaged to a woman from Venezuela. However, as he was on a trip from Colombia to the Venezuelan border to be closer to his fiancé, his family said that’s when he was detained.
“My Aunt Elaine, Joey’s mother, had been dealing with this on her own for that first portion. Once I found out about it, we were calling the media. We were making the social media posts, we were doing whatever we could to bring him home,” Stephanie told WESH.
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A GoFundMe account, along with a Facebook page, was created to help with funds and push for his release.
“My aunt lives in Boise, Idaho, so we’re going to see what we can do about getting her to have a Christmas wish, so that she doesn’t have to spend this Christmas without him like she did the last,” she told WESH. “The plane tickets are so much money on short notice. We’re going to try and see what we can do and get her to be able to at least spend Christmas with him.”
According to the Biden Administration, four other Americans were released, adding that those released will “soon be reunited with their families and other loved ones.”
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