McALLEN, Texas - Four Mexican nationals, who kidnapped a group of foreign nationals who had been smuggled into the U.S. by another smuggling group, have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Andres Perez-Moshan, 37, Humberto Alvarez-Cheo, 25, Roberto Salinas-Martinez, 29, and Euclides Moreno-Dominguez, 34, of Mexico and themselves illegally in the U.S., pleaded guilty to one count of hostage taking on Feb. 18, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa.
Today, Judge Hinojosa sentenced Moreno-Dominguez to 204 months in prison. On Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, the court handed Perez-Moshan a 264-month term, while Alvarez-Cheo and Salinas-Martinez were each sentenced to 120 months in prison. As illegal aliens, they are all expected to face deportation proceedings following their release from prison.
According to court records, on Nov. 24, 2008, the four defendants entered a stash house at an unknown location near Mission and kidnapped approximately 21 foreign nationals - all illegally in the United States. The defendants forcibly took them by gunpoint to a mobile home north of Edinburg where they were all arrested by Border Patrol agents the next day. At the time of arrest, agents seized three handguns with corresponding ammunition.
While at the Edinburg stash house, the four had forced the foreign nationals to strip, took all of their possessions, held them against their will and forced them to contact family members in the United States or abroad to extort a ransom for their release. The foreign nationals were threatened with the loss of their lives if they did not comply or if the ransom money was not received. Additionally, three of the female foreign nationals reported that Perez-Moshan and Moreno-Dominguez had sexually assaulted them.
All four defendants have been in custody since their arrest where they will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigation and Border Patrol. Assistant United States Attorneys Anibal J. Alaniz and Linda Requénez are prosecuting.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
