Six months after a judge handed down consecutive life sentences for their co-defendant, a man and woman accepted a plea agreement in the torture, kidnapping and ransom of a Metairie father and son.
Michelle Mayorga, 22, and Eduardo Nunez Ponce, 25, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of second-degree kidnapping and one count of each of aggravated burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Judge Donald Rowan Jr. of the 24th Judicial District Court sentenced the pair to 40 years in prison on the kidnapping charges and 20 years on the burglary charges.
Violent home invasion
Mayorga and Nunez had been charged alongside two other defendants, Nilson Fredrich Ruiz, 18, and Ralin Americo Paca, 20, with forcing their way into the apartment of a contactor they believed kept large amounts of cash in his Metairie home on the night of July 2, 2022.
With Mayorga acting as the mastermind, the masked crew dragged the man and his then teenage son from their beds, beat the victims and terrorized them, demanding money, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators said. At one point, they tried to cut off one of the father’s fingers, authorities said…