KIDNAPPERS SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT

                [LAREDO] Declaring that the justice system in the United States is governed by the rule of law, not by “street justice,” and the need to send a message of deterrence to others contemplating similar violent conduct, U. S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez today sentenced two Mexican nationals convicted of kidnapping a U. S. citizen to life imprisonment, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

                 Jose A. Garza-Robles, 19, and Hector Herrera-Sifuentes, 27, both Mexican nationals with permanent resident alien status in the United States, were sentenced this morning for the kidnapping of a U. S. citizen in September 2006.  Both men were convicted of conspiring to kidnap and kidnapping on January 29, 2007 by a jury’s verdict.  Garza-Robles was also convicted of receiving ransom money. 

                At this morning’s sentencing hearing, U. S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez imposed the life imprisonment for each kidnapping conviction, and sentenced Garza-Robles to three years for the receiving ransom money conviction.  This second prison term is to be served concurrently with his life imprisonment term.  The court also fined each defendant $10,000.  Both men have been in federal custody without bond since their arrests in September 2006, and will remain in federal custody to serve their prison terms.  There is no parole in the federal system.

                Evidence at tria proved that in September 2006, Garza-Robles drove the United States citizen victim to Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, Mexico from Houston, Texas in order to work out an arrangement to pay a Mexican citizen called “Lalo” for a 650 pound load of marijuana the victim had purportedly lost.  Once the victim arrived at Lalo’s home in Miguel Aleman, he was told he was not free to leave until all of the money for the lost load of marijuana was paid.  The victim was then held against his will by Lalo, Garza-Robles, Herrera-Sifuentes, and others as yet unknown.  While being held for ransom in Mexico, the victim was guarded at gunpoint by the two defendants and others.  A board was used to beat the victim and a knife was used to cut on his ears.  The victim was allowed to use a cellular phone to make calls to family members to raise money for his release.

                 After the family raised $57,500 in U.S. currency, less than the $110,500 amount originally demanded, Garza-Robles picked up the partial ransom payment from a family member in Roma, Texas.  He then traveled back across the border to Miguel Aleman and delivered the ransom money to Lalo.  The victim was finally released after being held hostage for two weeks.  Less than a week after the victim’s release, Lalo sent both defendants back to the United States to pick up and return the victim to Miguel Aleman.  The victim notified the FBI and Lalo’s plan was foiled by the defendants’ arrests in a Laredo-area fast-food restaurant where the defendants had been instructed by Lalo to meet the victim.   

                At today’s hearing, Judge Alvarez emphasized the import of the life sentences in sending a message of deterrence to others contemplating similar violent conduct.  In response to an argument from defense counsel that the victim was a knowing participant in the drug trade and assumed the risk and consequences of losing loads of contraband, Judge Alvarez remarked that the victim had not consented to being held against his will and beaten, and that the justice system in the United States is governed by the rule of law, not by “street justice.”  

                This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and tried by Assistant United States Attorney Roberto Ramirez. Assistant United States Attorney Diana Song represented the United States at today’s sentencing hearing. 

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