CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan authorities are presenting what they say are new details in the case against a 24-year-old American being held on weapons charges.

Joshua Holt traveled to Venezuela to marry a fellow Mormon he met on the internet. At the time of the arrest June 30, Holt's new wife was waiting for a U.S. visa so the pair could travel to his home in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Interior Minister Gustavo Gonzalez said Wednesday that Holt was a "trained gunman" and had a pilot's license. He called Holt by the alias "the gringo" and said his wife's apartment was used to stockpile weapons.

Holt's mother told The Associated Press that her family likes to hunt but denied her son is a spy and says he's been mistakenly accused.