Federal Jury Convicts Mexican Citizen Living In San Antonio For His Role In Kidnapping Scheme

In San Antonio today, a federal jury convicted 36-year-old Agustin Sergio Deleon Garza for his role in the kidnapping of a Mexican businessman in December 2013 announced Acting United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs of the FBI’s San Antonio Division and Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Arabit of the DEA’s Houston Division.

The jury found Deleon Garza guilty of one count of conspiracy to kidnap; one count of aiding and abetting kidnapping; two counts of receipt of ransom money; one count of interstate communication of ransom; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; and, one count of aiding and abetting money laundering.

Evidence presented during trial revealed that on December 27, 2013, Jorge Luis Martin Cavazos Cantu was kidnapped from his Monterrey, Mexico residence by several men.  While Cantu was in the custody of his abductors in Mexico, Deleon Garza placed several phone calls from Bexar County to Cantu’s family seeking ransom. In each call, Deleon Garza used a cellphone app which disguised his voice and his location.  Cantu was released on January 29, 2014, after a $75,000 ransom was paid.

Deleon Garza remains in federal custody pending sentencing.  He faces up to life in federal prison when he is sentenced on March 30, 2015, by visiting Senior U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in San Antonio.

This case was investigated by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in San Antonio and in Mexico (Monterrey and Mexico City) in cooperation with the State of Nuevo León anti kidnapping unit and the attorney general's office in Monterrey.  Assistant United States Attorney Erica Benites Giese is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.