Three US citizens sentenced to death in Congo over role in failed coup

Three U.S. citizens are among 37 defendants sentenced to death by a military court on Friday for their role in a May failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Armed men briefly occupied an office of the presidency in capital Kinshasa on May 19 before their leader, U.S.-based Congolese politician Christian Malanga, was killed by security forces.

His son, Marcel Malanga, was among the Americans on trial, along with Marcel's friend, Tyler Thompson, who played high school football with him in Utah. Both are in their 20s.

The third American, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, was a business associate of Christian Malanga.