An El Paso man nicknamed “Cholo” has pleaded guilty to kidnapping a man from a stash house, brutally beating him to death and dumping his body in Las Cruces.
Armando Leonardo Moreno, 21, pleaded guilty Wednesday, Feb. 7, to one count of kidnapping resulting in death. The guilty plea was made before U.S. Senior Judge David Briones at the Albert Armendariz Sr. Federal Courthouse in Downtown El Paso.
Moreno is facing up to life in federal prison. A sentencing date is set for April 24.
He was one of five people arrested in connection with the deadly kidnapping, federal court records show. The other people arrested were Ricardo Matthew Gutierrez, Alberto Rodriguez, Ruben Pimentel and Michelle Karen Avila.
Victim kidnapped, beaten to death and dumped in Las Cruces
Moreno was part of a “criminal organization” that kidnapped the victim from an El Paso stash house in September 2021, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas officials said. No information was released on the name of the criminal organization. Court documents also do not name the organization.