Scott and Patti St. Clair stand in front of a mural with an image of their son Joe St. Clair on April 30, 2025 in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — An Air Force veteran has been released from a Venezuelan prison after being wrongfully detained by the government of President Nicolas Maduro, according to CNN.
The family of Joe St. Clair, 33, said his release was negotiated by U.S. special envoy Richard Grennell, the broadcaster reported Tuesday.
St. Clair lost contact with his family while traveling in Colombia near the Venezuelan border in November, said Scott St. Clair, his father and an Army veteran.
Joe St. Clair, a former tech sergeant, worked as a linguist in the military from 2010 to 2019. He was among nine Americans being held by Venezuelan authorities at a large federal prison complex near Caracas.
“The main message is, and I believe this — President [Donald] Trump is committed to bringing all American hostages home no matter what,” Scott St. Clair said on radio station KTTH in greater Seattle, where he lives with his wife, Patti.
Air Force veteran Joe St. Clair, left, works out at a gym with his father Scott St. Clair in 2022. (Scott St. Clair)
At an April event in Georgetown called “Bring Our Families Home,” the St. Clairs and other families called on President Donald Trump and lawmakers to push for the release of their son and other wrongfully detained Americans in Venezuela.
David Guillaume, a Florida nurse who shared a cell with St. Clair, was among six Americans freed Jan. 31 by the Maduro government after a Trump administration official met with the president.
Guillaume said he told the State Department about St. Clair and eight other Americans who had been left behind.
Guillaume said he was detained in the country after traveling there with his girlfriend, a 25-year-old Venezuelan national.
Joe St. Clair was detained by Venezuelan authorities who took him across the Colombian border to prison, Guillaume said. Scott St. Clair was notified by the State Department of his son’s wrongful detention.
The State Department in March designated St. Clair “wrongfully detained.” It is formal recognition that an American citizen is being unlawfully held in a foreign nation, according to the department.
The St. Clair family was never informed of any charges against their son, whom they said had traveled outside the U.S. seeking alternative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health condition he developed while in the military.
Venezuelan authorities have a recent history of arresting and detaining Americans to gain concessions with the U.S. to ease restrictions placed on Maduro and his government, according to the James W. Foley Foundation, which advocates for families of Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage in foreign countries.
The foundation communicates with the State Department, including the consular affairs and special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, to assist families in gaining the release of detained loved ones.
“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens overseas. Maduro has targeted, arrested, and jailed U.S. citizens under questionable circumstances and without proper process — this is unacceptable, and he must release them immediately. The Department of State will continue to work to secure their release,” the agency said last month.
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