Man sentenced in mass kidnapping of illegal immigrants
May 30th, 2008, 10:37 am · Post a Comment · posted by Gary Grado
A 45-year-old man from Mexico was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for his role in holding 76 illegal immigrants hostage in a Peoria home, according the U.S. Attorney for Arizona.
A jury found Rufino Valdez-Lopez guilty in October on five counts related to the April 2007 kidnapping.
Sandy Raynor, U.S. Attorney spokeswoman, said in a press release that Valdez and five others would wave around an automatic rifle to intimidate the victims.
One of the victims testified he was held hostage for 40 days.
