Three Mexican hostage-takers sentenced to prison in plea deal

Three Mexican hostage-takers who allowed their captives to escape from a Las Vegas apartment after passing out drunk have been sentenced to federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro on Friday sentenced Victor Mendoza-Aguilar and Ma Hilde Andrade-Padillo to two years and 18 months, respectively. On Wednesday the judge sentenced the third defendant, Nadia Rico-Alejandre, to two years in prison.

All three could be deported when they finish their terms.

In a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the three each pleaded guilty to one count of harboring an illegal alien.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the trio in November on more serious hostage-taking charges after four illegal immigrants escaped from the apartment. Prosecutors reduced the charges to four counts of harboring an illegal alien.

The illegal immigrants arrived at the Lamb Boulevard apartment Nov. 16 from Phoenix, where they stayed at a drop house one day after crossing the border.

While the men prepaid smugglers to bring them across, Mendoza-Aguilar, Andrade-Padillo and Rico-Alejandre admitted they extorted an additional $6,000 from the families of the men once they got to Las Vegas.

The women drove two of the hostages to a Western Union, where three $2,000 payments were received. A key employee at the money-wiring service told police the two women had been there before, with other Mexicans who received money from home.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob MacDonald said the government suspects Mendoza-Aguilar had a gun, and that was sufficient to keep the hostages in fear, but he acknowledged no gun was found. Because of that, Navarro did not add additional years to Mendoza-Aguilar’s sentence.

Also, Mendoza-Aguilar, 34, and Rico-Alejandre, 33, reportedly told the victims they would be “left in the desert” if their families didn’t pay the ransom, MacDonald said.

According to court papers, Mendoza-Aguilar and the women held as many as 13 illegal immigrants inside the apartment, leading defense attorneys to question how one man and two women could keep so many hostages from revolting.

In sentencing Andrade-Padillo, Navarro noted she was the least culpable of the three. According to defense attorney Shari Kaufman’s sentencing memorandum, Andrade-Padillo, 27, was forced to rent a room from Rico-Alejandre at the apartment after her husband was deported last summer.

Although they were undocumented and unable to work legally in the United States, Andrade-Padillo and her husband held employment and supported their two young children.

The victims said that she did not threaten them or treat them poorly during the four days and that she fed them and gave them water.

The only defendant who had identification, Andrade-Padillo signed for the cash, and that was, both sides agreed, the essence of her participation in the crime.

The apartment was in Rico-Alejandre’s name, and she and Mendoza-Aguilar reportedly threatened the victims. That behavior justified the slightly longer sentences handed down to Rico-Alejandre and Mendoza-Aguilar, MacDonald said.

Rico-Alejandre also told her attorney she was afraid the Mexican crime ring behind the Las Vegas case would harm her family, including two children, if she cooperated with authorities.

Kidnappings are a common occurrence in Latin America, and there has been spillover north of the border, particularly in Phoenix. Almost all of them involve illegal immigrants or people involved in the illicit drug trade.

How big the problem is in the United States is difficult to determine. In 2008, Phoenix police reported 358 kidnappings. But a report released earlier this year accused the department of inflating those numbers to get federal dollars to fight the problem. Police responded by saying the 38 percent of “misreportings” were because of confusion and not an attempt to inflate the numbers.

The crime is not unheard of in Nevada, but reports are rare, according to statistics compiled on federal law enforcement websites.

Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.