A former commander of the Colombian terrorist group FARC has been sentenced to almost 30 years in prison by an American court for kidnapping and holding hostage three Americans for around five years.

Alexander Beltran Herrera, 38, was sentenced to 27 years in prison by an American judge during a sentencing hearing on Friday, according to the BBC. Beltran partook in the kidnapping and imprisonment of three American contractors -- Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves -- who were captured after their plane broke down.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) held the three men hostage from February 2003 until 2008 when they were rescued by Colombian troops. Herrera's unit held them for two years throughout which the three men were shackled.

The three men were in Colombian working as contractors doing anti-drug aerial surveillance, according to the Associated Press. Two other men who were also aboard the plane: American contractor Thomas Janis and Colombian army Sgt. Luis Alcides Cruz; however, FARC killed them.

"I don't have hatred here; I want him to have all of the things the FARC denied us," Stansell said in court, adding "I have no respect for this guy; we were like rats in a cage."

The three men told U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth Herrera had multiple opportunities to set the men free during the two years he guarded the men. Speaking to the court, Herrera apologized for what he did.

"I feel shamed about what you all had to go through," he said.

Carmen Hernandez, one of Herrera's lawyers, told the court that, since he left FARC in 2009, Herrera provided information that led to the dismantling of two FARC military units and a communications tower.

However, the three former hostages asked the judge to sentence Herrera to 27 years, the same sentence recommended by prosecutors.