Two Honduran nationals have been charged with conspiring to kidnap a Guatemalan man who had illegally entered the U.S. and then demanded ransom from the victim’s family living in Southern California, the Justice Department announced Monday.
Darwin Jeovany Palma Pastrana, 30, and Eduar Isrrael Sauceda Nuñez, 25, both living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, conspired to kidnap and hold for ransom migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California . Once in the U.S., federal prosecutors said the migrants were driven to stash houses in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, where the migrants’ phones were seized and not returned.
Palma, who was arrested in New Mexico last month, is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of kidnapping, one count of interstate communication containing a demand or request for ransom, and one count of making a threat by interstate communication. He pleaded not guilty and remains jailed without bond.