Three men sentenced for roles in 18-year-old’s fatal kidnapping in Tijuana
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KESQ) - Three men who took part in the kidnapping of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen in Tijuana who was later killed by a co-defendant were sentenced to prison terms in San Diego federal court today.
Prosecutors say the victim was abducted from a Tijuana hotel, then beaten and tortured while his captors demanded a ransom of money or drugs from his family. A prosecution trial brief states the victim -- identified in court documents as M.A.R. -- had initially agreed to transport just over two pounds of methamphetamine across the border for one of the defendants, but stole the package, leading to the retaliatory kidnapping in May 2020.
M.A.R. was abducted in the garage of a Tijuana hotel where he was staying, then later beaten and tortured by some of the defendants, who sent ransom demands to the victim's family seeking up to $3,000 or methamphetamine, authorities said.
Prosecutors say that one day after he was kidnapped, the victim was shot and killed by Brian Alexis Patron Lopez, who was convicted by a San Diego federal jury earlier this year of charges that include intentional killing while engaged in drug trafficking.
Federal prosecutors also charged four other people for their roles in the victim's abduction and slaying, all of whom pleaded guilty to various charges.
On Wednesday, Alan Lomeli-Luna was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison, Jonathan Emmanuel Montellano-Mora to 10 years and five months in prison, and Wyatt Valencia Pacheco to nine years and two months in prison.
Earlier this year, another defendant, Luis Armando Dorantes Rivera, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Patron Lopez has not been sentenced as he is currently requesting a new trial over allegations that a juror in his trial received a text message she believed may have been connected to the case, then shared the message's contents with other jurors.
