Man faces 6 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and robbery charges
A Coachella man who, with a 26-year-old man, kidnapped, robbed, assaulted and extorted a victim for money is facing six years in state prison today after pleading guilty to felony charges.
Alexander Henry Edlund, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to one felony count each of kidnap for ransom, robbery, criminal threats to cause great bodily injury, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon or by force to cause great bodily injury, and kidnapping, according to court records.
Sentence-enhancing allegations of using a weapon during a felony were also found true.
He was immediately sentenced to six years in state prison, according to Amy McKenzie from the Riverside County District Attorney's office.
At around 11:20 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2022, sheriff's deputies from the Thermal station responded to the 50000 block of Cesar Chavez Street regarding a man who was kidnapped, robbed, assaulted and extorted for money, according to Sgt. David Aldrich of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Aldrich said that the unidentified man left a casino with Edlund and Brian Emmanuel Jamand and drove to Coachella, where he was assaulted and robbed in the 53500 block of Cesar Chavez Street.
Jamand pleaded guilty Feb. 14 to one felony count each of kidnapping for ransom, robbery and criminal threats to cause great bodily harm, according to court records. Sentence enhancing allegations of using a weapon during a felony were also found true.
He was immediately sentenced to one year and eight months in state prison, McKenzie said.
The victim was held against his will when he didn't give Edlund and Jamand money, Aldrich said. They subsequently began to demand money from his personal contacts and when the ransom was paid, they released him in the 50000 block of Cesar Chavez Street.
Paramedics treated the victim's injuries at the scene.
Jamand was arrested the same night in the 78000 block of Highway 111 in La Quinta, and five days later, Edlund was arrested in the 83500 block of Indio Boulevard in Indio.
Edlund has previously pleaded guilty to one felony count in Riverside County for grand theft of over $950, according to court records. On Feb. 14, Jamand also pleaded guilty in two other cases to three felony counts of robbery and to one felony count for having a stolen vehicle.
