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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Two Southland residents were convicted today of conspiring to kidnap people trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border then demanding and collecting ransom payments from their relatives.
Edgar Adrian Hernandez Lemus, 23, of Vernon, was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy and two counts of receiving money from a ransom demand for the release of a kidnapped person. Junior Almendarez
Martinez, 23, of Watts, was convicted of two counts of receiving money from a ransom demand for the release of a kidnapped person, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Prosecutors said Lemus and Martinez offered to help smuggle victims into the United States from Mexico, but would then hold them for ransom and demand payments from their families. The pair would arrange to meet the victims' families at various Walmart and other stores in Southern California to collect the ransom payments, often demanding additional money when the meetings occurred.
According to prosecutors, the ransom demands ranged from $12,000 to $30,000 in cash. Lemus and Martinez would eventually share some of the ransom funds with co-conspirators in Mexico via MoneyGram.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter scheduled sentencing for Jan. 10. Lemus faces up to 11 years in federal prison, while Martinez faces up to eight years.
Co-defendant Francisco Javier Hernandez Martinez, 21, of Vernon, pleaded guilty on Sept. 7 to one count of conspiracy. He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 29 in Los Angeles federal court.