Man held in Venezuela for 2 years returning to Utah

SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah man freed this weekend after being held in a Venezuelan jail for nearly two years is scheduled to return to Salt Lake City on Monday night after getting medical care and visiting President Donald Trump in Washington.

Laurie Holt says family and friends will meet her son Joshua Holt and his wife, Thamara Caleno, at the airport to welcome them home.

The couple arrived in Washington on Saturday after secret, backchannel negotiations between a U.S. congressional staffer and Venezuelan officials finally secured his freedom.

Holt had a tearful reunion with his parents in Washington but has yet to see his three siblings. He and his wife have been receiving medical treatment in Washington from a team with experience helping people return from captivity.

Holt was arrested in June 2016 on suspicion of weapons charges that he and his family say were bogus.