A federal jury in New Orleans has convicted Hector Mondragon-Flores, 33, on eight counts related to kidnapping-for-ransom and assaulting a federal officer. The verdict was delivered on October 23, 2025, after a three-day trial.
Mondragon-Flores was found guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, interstate transmission of ransom demands, conspiracy to receive a ransom payment, receipt of ransom payments, and assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon.
According to evidence presented at trial, Mondragon-Flores and co-defendant Edwin Salgado-Nunez kidnapped the victim on October 2, 2024. They restrained the victim’s hands and feet and held him at gunpoint in Mondragon-Flores’s apartment. The pair demanded $7,000 from the victim’s father for his release. Over fifty threatening calls were made to the victim's father. The father agreed to pay but alerted the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) while heading to deliver the money. Detectives monitored the exchange and arrested Salgado after $3,000 was paid to Abel Garcia, another associate.
After Salgado's arrest, Mondragon-Flores moved the victim at gunpoint to Janette Ramirez’s apartment and tried to secure more ransom from the victim’s girlfriend. When she could not transfer funds successfully, he took the victim to an ATM where $400 was withdrawn for his release.
The following day law enforcement located Mondragon-Flores in New Orleans East. As officers attempted an arrest, he drew a firearm and forced entry into an occupied apartment taking another hostage. The hostage escaped during an attempt by Mondragon-Flores to exit through a window. He then pointed his gun at two officers before barricading himself inside for nearly eight hours until surrendering after SWAT deployed tear gas.
For kidnapping convictions alone, Mondragon-Flores faces up to life imprisonment plus financial penalties including fines up to $250,000 per count and supervised release periods ranging from three to five years depending on each conviction. Each count also carries a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.
“This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone,” according to officials. “On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) along with NOPD investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys David Berman and Sarah Dawkins are prosecuting.
