'I'm sick, I've never felt like this before': American Mormon jailed in Venezuela is heard begging for help in audio released amid calls for his release on humanitarian grounds and claims he is not receiving medical attention

  • Josh Holt, a Mormon from Utah, has been in Venezuelan prison since June 2016
  • Holt went to Venezuela to marry Thamy Caleno whom he met online learning Spanish, they were both arrested on charges of stockpiling weapons 
  • On Monday Josh's mother Laurie Holt, who has been fighting for her son's release, circulated an audio clip of Josh saying he is very sick in prison
  • Laurie and his lawyer are calling for his release on humanitarian grounds
  • His wife Thamy also has issues with her shoulder that the family's lawyer says is not being addressed 
  • Both Josh and Thamy's family say they are innocent on weapons charges  

The mother of a Utah Mormon man imprisoned in Venezuela for nearly a year-and-a-half is circulating a new audio recording of her son talking about how he's suffering without medical care.

Laurie Holt said Monday that she's sharing the recording Joshua Holt, 25, sent by cellphone so people can hear how dire the situation is. She's calling on Venezuela to release him on humanitarian grounds.

In the short recording, he says 'Guys, I don't feel very good... I'm very dizzy and I can't think and my stomach hurts,' he said. 'Super bad. I don't know what to do. I've never felt like this before.'

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Joshua Holt with his wife Thamy Caleno (pictured) have been in a Venezuelan prison since June of 2016. In a recording his mother is circulating, Josh says he is very sick

Joshua Holt with his wife Thamy Caleno (pictured) have been in a Venezuelan prison since June of 2016. In a recording his mother is circulating, Josh says he is very sick

Laurie Holt (pictured) says her son has become extremely sick while in prison and is not getting the medical attention he needs

Laurie Holt (pictured) says her son has become extremely sick while in prison and is not getting the medical attention he needs

The 25-year-old traveled to Venezuela in June 2016 to marry fellow Mormon Thamy Caleno, after meeting her online while learning Spanish. 

The couple was arrested at her family's Caracas apartment by police who alleged Holt was stockpiling weapons.

Their families say they're innocent.

Holt has a hearing scheduled Tuesday in Caracas, but most of his previous hearings have been canceled.

Holt has been sick with an infection for 'three or four months,' said his Salt Lake City-based lawyer, Carlos Trujillo, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

A judge had previously ordered Holt be transferred to a medical facility however, according to his lawyer, the prison officials blocked his transfer.

He had received medical attention 'two or three times. He had been put on an IV drip, and once he was stabilized they put him back in the prison, according to his lawyer.  

'Literally, they're just keeping him alive,' he said.

His wife, Thamy, has also remained in prison since their June 2016 arrest.

His lawyer says she is also not getting medical attention for issues with her shoulder.

A woman holds a photograph of Josh Holt, an American jailed in Venezuela, during a rally at the Utah State Capitol in 2016, in Salt Lake City

A woman holds a photograph of Josh Holt, an American jailed in Venezuela, during a rally at the Utah State Capitol in 2016, in Salt Lake City

Holt traveled to Venezuela to marry Caleno, whom he had met online while practicing Spanish

Holt traveled to Venezuela to marry Caleno, whom he had met online while practicing Spanish

'Josh Holt is in a delicate state and therefore we ask them again that Venezuela releases him under humanitarian grounds immediately or in the alternative that our leaders in the US government double their efforts in bringing him home before [it] is too late,' his family wrote in a statement released on Monday.  

He had planned to spend several months in Caracas with his wife and her two daughters to secure visas for them so they could move to the U.S.

Instead he was arrested at his wife's apartment in a public housing complex. Police alleged he was hiding two assault rifles and grenades, and government officials later linked him to unspecified U.S. attempts to undermine Maduro's rule during a period of economic and political turbulence. 

In October lawyers argued for charges to be dropped at a preliminary hearing that should have taken place within 20 days of Holt's arrest, but was delayed without explanation for 15 months, leading the U.S. government to question the motives for his continued detention.   

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