Federal authorities have arrested and charged four Southern California men for kidnapping illegal immigrants and demanding that their families pay cash in exchange for their safe return, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles announced Sept. 9.
A fifth suspect, Gabriel Michel Becerra, 22, of Palmdale is still at large.
The four have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. They are: Miguel Angel Avila, 22, of Hemet; Omar Avila Salmeron, 41, of South Los Angeles; Jose Jaime Garcia, 20, of San Jacinto; and Jose Alfredo Moreno Gonzalez, 21, of Oak Hills.
Court documents described a hostage-taking scheme that started across state lines in Chandler, Arizona, just outside Phoenix and about 400 miles from Los Angeles.
According to authorities, on March 21, 2023, Avila told Moreno to drive to a Chevron station in Chandler. When he arrived, Moreno allegedly kidnapped four illegal immigrants and drove them to a restaurant in Burbank, California.
Authorities say the foreign nationals were then taken to a house and held hostage by Avila, Garcia, and Becerra. The defendants then allegedly used the cellphone of one of the victims to call family members to demand ransom.
Avila then allegedly used another victim’s cellphone to demand ransom payments, partially to an account in Mexico and partially to an account in the United States.
The next day, authorities say Avila and Salmeron demanded ransom from a third hostage’s family member. Three of the hostages were then moved to a motel room, where one of the victims managed to escape through a second-story bathroom window, according to court documents.
Avila and a co-defendant allegedly chased the victim to a nearby store in Koreatown, a neighborhood in central Los Angeles, where Avila allegedly body-slammed the victim, placed him in a chokehold, and punched him repeatedly in the face in an attempt to recapture him, according to U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Avila, Garcia, and Becerra then allegedly restrained one of the victims and another hostage by tying their hands, driving them to another house, and holding them in a room. They reportedly threatened them with violence if they tried to escape.
On March 23, 2023, Avila, Garcia, and Becerra reportedly drove one victim to a gas station, where they took $11,000 in cash from the victim’s brother in exchange for the victim’s release.
U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath of the Los Angeles office said the defendants will “face justice” for their actions.
“Human smuggling is a dangerous crime,” McGrath said. “These defendants will face justice for abusing vulnerable migrants for profit.”
All five defendants are facing two counts of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and hostage taking, two counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and kidnapping, one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, and two counts of transporting illegal aliens for private financial gain, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Avila, Salmeron, Garcia, and Becerra are also charged with two counts of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion and attempted interference with commerce by extortion, which is a Hobbs Act violation. The federal Hobbs Act refers to crimes of attempted robbery or extortion that affect interstate or foreign commerce.
Salmeron, Garcia, and Moreno are scheduled to go on trial Oct. 1. Avila has an Oct. 29 trial date.
If convicted on all charges, each defendant would face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
A federal magistrate judge has ordered Avila and Salmeron jailed without bond.
Garcia and Moreno have already posted bond and have been released, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
