In a stringent measure of justice by a New Orleans court, Honduran citizen Hector Mondragon-Flores, 33, faced the firm hand of the law as he was convicted of multiple serious offenses, including kidnapping, ransom demands, and assaulting a federal officer. After a three-day trial that concluded on October 23, the jury found Mondragon guilty on all eight counts presented in the superseding indictment against him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana reported.
During the trial, it was revealed by prosecutors that Mondragon and his accomplice, Edwin Salgado-Nunez, on October 2, 2024, kidnapped a victim at gunpoint in Mondragon’s apartment, demanding a $7,000 ransom and placing multiple calls with threats of violence to the victim’s father. After being taken to different locations, a $3,000 exchange was made to a third party linked to the defendants, which New Orleans police had under surveillance, leading to arrests. Bound by their hands and feet, the victim’s ordeal only came to an end after coerced ATM withdrawals, recounted, according to the same press release.
With their sights set on apprehending Mondragon the day following the ransom drop, law enforcement officers confronted him in an eastern New Orleans apartment complex. In a desperate bid to evade capture, Mondragon wielded a gun, barging into an occupied apartment to take yet another person hostage, who managed to slip away while the perpetrator attempted to flee through a window. He engaged in a standoff that lasted nearly eight hours before the NOPD SWAT team swooped in, using tear gas to force a surrender…