CARACAS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab reported that the two Americans who participated in Operation Gideon, an act that aimed to overthrow the Venezuelan government, have been sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting to the crimes.

U.S. citizens Luke Denman and Airan Berry have been "sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment," Saab announced on his official Twitter account on Friday night.

The prosecutor said that the two former members of the U.S. military had "confessed to having committed the crimes of conspiracy, association, illicit trafficking in weapons of war and terrorism."

Luke Denman and Airan Berry were captured in May along with six Venezuelan nationals in a boat carrying weapons off the coast of the central state of Aragua.