This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Utah man held for more than four months in a Venezuelan prison will continue to await his release after a judge delayed the case on Tuesday.
During the hearing, the judge purportedly got a phone call from a "higher up" asking him to postpone the proceedings. Josh Holt, a 24-year-old Riverton man, was given no further explanation.
"It's like the weirdest thing ever," said Holt's mother, Laurie Holt, on Wednesday.
A former Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionary, Josh Holt was arrested and jailed on June 30 in Venezuela on suspicion of weapons charges. His hearing Tuesday was the first time a judge showed up in court — despite two previously scheduled hearing dates.
Josh Holt traveled to the country to marry Thamara Caleno, a Mormon woman he met online in January to practice Spanish, and to whom he proposed five months later in the Dominican Republic. They planned to return to Salt Lake City once Caleno obtained a visa.
After a June honeymoon in Ecuador, the two were arrested on accusations that Josh Holt was a spy and had stockpiled guns and grenades in Caleno's apartment — which Laurie Holt denies.
Both of the newlyweds remain in jail. Their next hearing is set for Dec. 6.
"It better not come to that," Laurie Holt told The Tribune on Wednesday. "I don't think I can handle that."
Despite Venezuela releasing political prisoners at the start of this month, and rumors from foreign journalists talking about a "Mormon Americano" being expelled from the country, there is no confirmed indication that Josh Holt will be released.
Laurie Holt has lobbied for the couple's release, speaking with Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, and Rep. Mia Love. Hatch released a video statement Tuesday on Facebook, noting that he has worked with top federal officials, including U.S. Ambassador Thomas Shannon, to negotiate Josh Holt's freedom. He calls the delay "very disappointing."
"The Venezuelan government knows we will not relent until Josh is reunited with his entire family here in the United States," Hatch says in the video.
Laurie Holt has published an op-ed in The Washington Post and directly written to Venezuela's president President Nicolas Maduro. She worries jail wardens have mistreated her son and has previously said that Josh Holt, one of 12 U.S. citizens jailed in Venezuela, was coughing blood and having trouble breathing.
She believes officials of the country have confused Josh Holt's LDS mission in Everett, Wash., with Washington, D.C. — taking him as a political hostage under the belief that he was involved with the U.S. government.
Meanwhile, Caleno's two kids, ages 5 and 8, have been staying with family while their mother is incarcerated.
Laurie Holt, though, continues to pray for her son's release.
She said: "If I give up hope, what do I have?"
Twitter: @CourtneyLTanner