court noted, the record contains Mr. White's unequivocal statement in his guilty plea petition that he was taking certain prescription drugs but that his mind was clear and the drugs did not affect his understanding of the plea. He also stated that he was not mentally ill. At the sentencing hearing, defense counsel also specifically affirmed that his client had a mental disease but that it did not rise to the level of a defense to the crime. The court also questioned Mr. White in detail at the guilty plea hearing. He explained that he went on a cocaine smoking binge and was high on drugs at the time of the two crimes. But, he still was able to give a clear, detailed, and lucid description of theVenezuelan intelligence agents have arrested and tortured military personnel, accused of plotting against the government, according to an international rights group.

In a new report, Human Rights Watch and Foro Penal, a Venezuelan NGO, said authorities have also arrested and tortured the family members of some suspects in an effort to determine their whereabouts.

In most cases, members of the country's General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) or the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services (SEBIN) carried out the arrests, according to the rights groups.

In the report, published on Wednesday, detainees described being strangled, deprived of food and having the soles of their feet cut with razor blades.

"The Venezuelan government has brutally cracked down on members of the military accused of plotting against it," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human