Marcel Malanga, 21, Tyler Thompson Jr, 21, and Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, 36, had their death sentences commuted by Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi on Wednesday.
Six people were killed during last year's botched coup attempt, which was led by Malanga's father, a little-known opposition figure named Christian Malanga, who sold used cars and dabbled in gold mining before persuading his Utah-born son to join in the foiled coup.
The elder Malanga was fatally shot while resisting arrest soon after targeting the nation's presidential palace and live-streaming the attack on his social media.
Thompson is a high school friend of the younger Malanga who flew to Africa from Utah for what his family believed was a free vacation. Meanwhile Zalman-Polun, a DC native and father-of-three, is reported to have known Christian Malanga through a gold mining company.
Since their arrest, the three Americans have been kept at a high-security military prison in Kinshasa. Family members said the young men have been sleeping on the floor, struggling with health issues and have had to pay for food and hygiene products.
It's not clear which prison the men are being held in, but the Makala prison in Kinshasa has been repeatedly described as 'hell' by those who have experienced it, as reported by the BBC.
Prisons in the African nation are known to be cramped and prisoners say they have limited access to electricity, water and food. They usually do not provide basic needs like beds, leaving prisoners at the mercy of their relatives who are able to bring them necessities.
Marcel Malanga told the court that his father had forced him and Thompson to take part in the attack.
'Dad had threatened to kill us if we did not follow his orders,' he said previously during hearings.
His mother, Brittney Sawyer, has said her son is innocent and was simply following his father, who considered himself president of a shadow government in exile.
Thompson was his high school friend and football teammate in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan. He was the only former teammate to accept Marcel Malanga’s invitation to travel to Congo, according to several other players who told The Associated Press they had been invited to what the younger Malanga pitched interchangeably as a family vacation or as a service trip to build wells.
Other teammates alleged that Marcel Malanga had offered up to $100,000 to join him on a 'security job' in Congo.
Thompson’s family maintains he had no knowledge of the elder Malanga’s intentions, no plans for political activism and didn’t even plan to enter Congo. He and the Malangas were meant to travel only to South Africa and Eswatini, his stepmother, Miranda Thompson, said.
The pardons came amid efforts by Congolese authorities to sign a minerals deal with the U.S. in exchange for security support that will help Kinshasa fight rebels in the conflict-hit eastern region.
Most of the defendants were Congolese but also included a Briton, Belgian and Canadian. Their charges included attempted coup, terrorism and criminal association. Fourteen people were acquitted in the trial.
The US State Department strongly discourages travel to Congo, warning of violent crime and civil unrest.
However, it has not declared the Americans wrongfully detained, making it unlikely that U.S. officials would try to negotiate their return.
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