An Illinois man arrested in Chicago last weekend is accused of plotting to kidnap a boy in Florida and hold him for a $100,000 ransom, according to federal prosecutors.
Devontay Shields, 35, was taken into custody at Chicago’s Union Station on Saturday, as he attempted to board an Amtrak train bound for Miami, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a statement on Nov. 19.
Shields was charged with one count of attempted kidnapping on Sunday, and remains in federal custody. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25.
Toys and zip ties
In a criminal complaint filed on Nov. 17, federal law enforcement said they began investigating Shields on Nov. 11, after a source advised them that Shields had contacted another cooperating defendant to obtain money to travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he could then kidnap a child for ransom.
The next day, the law enforcement source and the cooperating defendant drove Shields from Danville, Illinois to the Chicago area, and secretly recorded Shields discussing the kidnapping plot.