American Father and Husband Sentenced to 15 Years in El Salvador Prison for Crime He Did Not Commit

By Nick Valencia | April 12, 2026

IZALCO, EL SALVADOR— A U.S. citizen has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in El Salvador after being convicted of a crime his attorney says is impossible for him to have committed because he was not in the country when it happened.

Last week, Maryland resident Jose Antonio Figueroa Lopez was found guilty of extorting someone for the equivalent of $15.

The naturalized U.S. citizen went through a week of trials in which he faced two separate counts, including associating with an illicit group and a more than decade-old extortion charge.

The first count was dismissed.

In spite of evidence and sworn testimony which proved Figueroa Lopez was in the U.S. at the time of the alleged extortion, his family said the court in El Salvador found him guilty.

Until now, they had been cautious about going public so as not to interfere with the Salvadoran legal process.

In an exclusive interview with Nick Valencia News, his wife Katherine Figueroa said she was convinced that her husband would be cleared of wrongdoing because "it's physically impossible to be in two places at once," she told NVN. "It's not him."

"We know he could not have committed because there is overwhelming evidence he was in the United States when the alleged crime occurred, including immigration and employment records," the family’s U.S. based attorney Victoria Slatton said in a statement.

Figueroa Lopez is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence at Izalco Prison for a crime he did not commit.

Denial of Consular Access

This week, the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador was made aware of the case, his wife Katherine Figueroa said. After questioning the wife for waiting so long to report the incident, the embassy has attempted to do a welfare check on Figueroa Lopez, but have been denied access, the family's attorney said.

"His innocence is not a question. It is a fact," Slatton told NVN in a statement. "This is not a gray area."

Now, there are urgent questions about Figueroa Lopez's condition inside one of El Salvador’s notorious prisons. Jose Antonio Figueroa Lopez, a husband and father of three, has not been heard from since his court appearance.

“Even then, he didn't speak," his wife said.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Katherine Figueroa said when asked whether she regretted waiting to contact the U.S. State Department. 

“We were following everything that the [Salvadoran] lawyers and the people around were telling us, like, 'No, you are gonna get him in trouble if you report him to the embassy because everything that Trump is doing [with immigration].' So we were scared," she added.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Figueroa came into the U.S. in 2013 and followed the legal consular process before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2022, the family's attorney said.

He met his wife Katherine in El Salvador, but it's in the U.S. where they became a family. Together, they settled in Maryland and have three small children, ages 10, 6 and 2.

On December 21, 2025, the family headed to El Salvador on what was supposed to be another routine annual holiday trip to visit family. Though he has no prior criminal history in the U.S. or El Salvador, by the time Figueroa Lopez landed in El Salvador, he was listed on paper as a wanted man.

According to his family and legal team, the case against him begins with identity theft by a local Salvadoran extortion group.

In the months leading up to Figueroa's trip, the local police were investigating an illicit group, which included more than a dozen people allegedly involved in small-scale shakedowns for years. At some point during that investigation, one of the suspects gave authorities “the name and ID of Figueroa to scam them," his wife said. 

It worked. 

"They didn't ask questions or for proof. They just took his word and put my husbands name down," she added.

When the family landed in December for just another holiday trip, no sooner did they hand over their U.S. passports to customs in El Salvador, when authorities immediately pulled Figueroa Lopez aside for questioning. 

Within minutes, he was under arrest and his wife was being told to gather his belongings.

“We didn’t even have time to react” his wife, Katherine said. "In El Salvador, you're guilty until proven innocent," she added. 

Since that moment, his wife said she has not been able to speak with him directly. For months, Figueroa has remained inside El Salvador's prison system, wasting away.

"I don't even know what to say or think, because I haven't been able to talk to him," his wife told NVN. The last contact she had with him was watching him on a remote screen during his trial. 

"He looked thin, and not well. He's dropped 50 pounds since being in there, maybe more. I see it in his face," his wife said.

A Late Start — Now a Full Sprint

For three full months, Katherine Figueroa was told not to worry about her husband's freedom. And perhaps more importantly, she said she was told by local attorney's not to make any noise.

It's a decision she regrets, which is why she and her U.S. based attorney have escalated the case to the U.S. government. But that has come with its own challenges.

The U.S. Embassy has formally requested a welfare check on Figueroa Lopez, however, Salvadoran prison authorities at Izalco have refused to permit embassy access, attorney Victoria Slatton said. 

"The situation has escalated to an emergency," she added

For the family, this is no longer a legal fight--it's a race against time. They fear he could die in custody any day.

"The family and legal counsel are urgently seeking immediate U.S. government intervention to secure consular access to Mr. Figueroa Lopez and press for his release," they said in a statement to NVN. 

The case now hinges on whether U.S. officials can gain access, verify his condition, and begin applying pressure for due process—or intervention. Back in Maryland, Katherine said she has done her best to shield their young children from what has been happening with their dad.

Figueroa Lopez owns his own construction company, and occasionally has to travel out-of-state for work.

"He always calls and checks in with the kids. Shows them the hotel he's in, the view," his wife said in a phone call with NVN. "I had been telling the kids he was on a work trip. But this week I told my oldest the truth."